Somewhere Between Happy and Ever After
by minorshan
Summary: The Keepers of Fairy Tales worry that the Evil Queen may win before the war even begins, and summons the Charmed Ones to aid Emma, the reluctant, prophesied savior of all people of the fairy tale realm, and break the curse before it's too late. Branches off & intertwines with last few eps of season 1, & will explore the possible aftermath coming in season 2. Once Upon A Time X-Over
1. Opening Gambits

**Author's Notes:** I'm in good company, with there being a lot of crossover between OUAT fans, and Charmed fans. Not that that's a big surprise Charmed made it clear that fairy tales were real, even stating that every of fairy tale book: "Every copy is a manifestation of an original, an original that was entrusted to the Keeper of the fairy tales". Sound like someone in Storybrooke?

I'll be shooting for equal time split between OUAT & Charmed characters, as well as providing some context for their powers/history, etc, so those not familiar with Charmed should still be able to enjoy the ride.

Finally, I'm not a fan of FFN's crossover stories system, as it makes them harder for readers to find, so yes, this is cross-posted on purpose.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Opening Moves<strong>

Henry sat at the counter in Granny's, swinging his dangling feet back and forth as he waited for Emma. She had said they could go for a walk in the woods to find a spot to rebuild their spot – this time where Regina couldn't send someone to follow them without them knowing. He especially liked the idea because it reminded him of Snow White and Red's adventures in the woods, hiding from the Queen.

He sipped at his chocolate milk, it was too hot for cocoa as summer had just arrived, as Red walked by. "You want me to top you off?" she asked, seeing his glass was half drained.

"Sure!"

"One Rapunzel's Tower, coming right up." Red pulled out a can of whipped cream, upended it, and filled the cup, creating a fluffy tower. She reached into her apron and pulled out a cinnamon shaker, dusting the top with a thick layered way that evoked a wooden roof. The final touch was a golden line of caramel down one side of the whipped cream tower. "No book today?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're giving it up for Harry Potter or something. You ask me, you stick with the classics. Besides, they're way more hardcore than some magical prep school!" She knew the other adults in his life weren't exactly fond of his fairy tale obsession, but the way she saw it, he'd grow out of it eventually. It wasn't like Storybrooke offered much in the way of adventure. Besides, she'd always pictured herself as making a great cool Aunt, but the closest thing she had to siblings were Mary Margaret, and recently, Emma. And _some_body had to be the cool grownup for him.

Henry shook his head. "Emma wanted to borrow it for a while."

"How about the funny pages?" asked a male voice. August Booth sat down next to Henry, placing a folded up copy of a Boston newspaper on the counter. "Sunday edition," he added with a smile. "Full color."

Henry studied Booth's face for a moment before shrugging and taking the paper. "There any superhero comics in this?" He still didn't know what to make of the man, but he didn't get a bad feeling from him.

"They've got Spiderman, but I think 'Prince Valiant' may be more your kinda thing," replied Booth. August ordered a coffee, reading over Henry's shoulder.

Being an avid reader, Henry was done with the comics in short order, but it would still be ten minutes before Emma said she'd be there, so he started flipping through the pages, looking for something interesting. He was two thirds of the way through, still finding nothing, when a headline caught his eye. 'Finding the Magic in Life'. It was the main title for an advice column, 'Ask Phoebe'.

He read on, and as he finished the article he heard Booth read a portion aloud. "'You have to believe in the magic before you can find it in your life'. Hm. Words to live by, eh, kid?"

Henry nodded. "Too bad magic isn't real 'cept for in Storybrooke. I bet she'd have some good ideas on how to save everyone."

"Yeah," replied Booth. "Too bad…" He gaze dropped back down to the newspaper and to the photo accompanying 'Ask Phoebe'. His line of work kept him in better touch with his inner child than most adults, but sometimes you needed a real one to open your eyes to the world's possibilities. He stood up and threw a couple dollars onto the counter. "Hey, Henry, I gotta go," he said quickly, making his way to the door.

"Don't you want your newspaper?" Henry called after him.

"Nah, you keep it, kid," he replied, his answer punctuated by the jingle of the diner door shutting behind him.

* * *

><p>Sidney Glass yawned before taking another sip from his lukewarm coffee. The whites of his caramel-brown eyes were shot through with red streaks of fatigue. It was too late, or too early, depending on how you looked at it, for any sane human being to be working. But thanks to Regina, he hadn't felt very sane for a long time. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt fully in control of his own actions. The thought faded as quickly as it had surfaced, even as something in the back of his head told him he should care more about that then he did.<p>

The disgraced newsman rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand before settling back and refocusing on the security recording playing on his laptop. As editor in chief, this was the kind of job that should've been far beneath him, but of course, he was no longer with the Mirror. And no one else could be trusted with this delicate an operation. Regina had entrusted him with this assignment, and he would do it, even if he didn't know what this was all leading to. If his friends and colleagues knew what he was up to, he was sure they'd think him a pathetic lap dog, but he knew something they didn't. Which was everything that Regina knew, he was sure of it. Aside from her ultimate plan. And knowledge was power, especially in politics, and as long as he was her right hand man, he had the power to bring down the mayor at any time. What he wouldn't admit to himself was that he would never be able to bring himself to act against her. He loved her too much. Those feelings, in turn, brought self-loathing bubbling to the surface for reasons he could not put a finger on. There was no way she knew how he felt, because he had never let on. And knowledge was power. He may have been under her spell, but as long as she didn't know it, she couldn't use it to manipulate him, even if she wanted to.

Any further half-lucid musing were interrupted when a figure appeared on screen. The recording was from a camera mounted on a tree on the outskirts of town, facing one of the roads out of town. He hit a key to take the playback speed down from 3x to normal and watched as a helmeted man sat on his motorcycle, which he'd just wheeled to a stop onscreen, waiting beside the Welcome to Storybrooke sign. Sidney leaned forward. "And what are you up to, Mr. Booth?" The stranger had only been in town for a few weeks, but it was the longest any newcomer visitor had ever stayed in Storybrooke, to his memory, outside of Emma Swan. Unlike Ms. Swan, though, he had stayed almost entirely to himself, and certainly didn't seem to have any real purpose in the village. And that made him far more suspicious in Sidney's mind than anything Emma had done.

Not more than a minute later a single bright light appeared in woods and made its way to the roadside. It was soon apparent that it was another person on a motorcycle. Both Booth an the unknown figure glanced about, seeming to make sure they were alone before gesturing in such a way that suggested a conversation was taking place, although neither party removed his helmet. It was times like this that Sidney wished there was a way to wire a sound feed, but wind and weather made getting a quality sound recording nigh on impossible while remaining inconspicuous. Normally, he could follow at least half a conversation by reading lips, but the helmets made this an impossibility. August was apparently not one for pleasantries, as just 30 seconds in, Booth pulled an envelope from a pocket inside the lining of his leather jacket and handed it to the other fellow. Whatever was in that envelop, he obviously didn't want it going through Storybrooke's post office. With little more than an exchange of nods, the two kick-started their bikes and cruised off in opposite directions.

Sidney digitally bookmarked this section of the video. He didn't know what it was, but it was the first evidence that this writer was in Storybrooke for more than just inspiration. He printed off a couple screen captures; Regina would want to see this.

* * *

><p>Phoebe Halliwell glanced at the clock on her office wall and groaned. <em>'It's only 10:30?' <em>she thought, grumpily. It was one of those days that made her consider taking another sabbatical – or at least writing a strongly worded letter to the Muse's guild. If Cupids had one, why not Muses, she reasoned. She'd felt like she was in a bit of a rut lately, and felt like she hadn't read a question she hadn't seen before in months.

"Uh, Phoebe?" a young female voice asked from her office door. It was one of the newly hired interns, a shy, baby-faced college student who reminded Phoebe of Piper at that age. Sometimes it was hard to believe she and her sisters had been that young when they'd taken up their Charmed destiny.

"Come on in, Lindsey. What do you need?" answered Phoebe.

"Oh, nothing, I just, uh, this came for you," she held out a plain white envelope, handing it to Phoebe.

Phoebe turn the envelope face up, but it was completely unmarked, except for the words 'Phoebe Halliwell' typed with what appeared to be a typewriter. "No postage?" she asked, examining the package once more before carefully opening the side with a letter opener. It was too small to be a Unibomber kind of device, and didn't seem to contain anything but a piece of paper with a hard coin-sized knob at the center.

Lindsey shrugged. "A bike messenger just dropped it off."

Phoebe carefully slid a single piece of heavy grade paper out of the envelope. The letter was folded in threes and sealed with wax. A triquetra was stamped into the wax. "Lindsey!" Phoebe called as the small brunette turned to leave Phoebe to her business.

"Yes, Mrs. Halliwell?"

"This bike messenger… was there anything unusual about him? Did he leave a message?" asked Phoebe.

The girl shook her head. "Nothing unusual that I noticed. And he just said to give this to you immediately. But then Neil told me he needed more coffee, so I got that for him before I brought you the letter. Did I do something wrong?" she asked worriedly. "I'm sorry – it won't happen again!"

Phoebe held up a hand. "No. No. Don't worry about it." She glanced back down at her family's symbol. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"Are you sure?" she asked, nervously rubbing her right hand along her left arm.

Phoebe nodded. "Really. Don't. It's fine – I promise."

Lindsey nodded uncertainly. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, or tea, or something?"

"How about, just get back to your job, okay?" she said with a reassuring smile. "Okay?"

"If you say so…" She turned to leave but stopped to add a "Ma'am" before making her way out.

"I told, just 'Phoebe!'" she called after the young woman.

"Yes, Ma'am –er, Phoebe!"

Phoebe smiled, but quickly sighed when she looked back down at the letter. Whatever it was, she had a feeling she was about to step out of work early today. Thankfully, in the years since the vanquishing the Triad, her family emergencies had been reduced to an almost normal rate of frequency. She gripped the letter opener firmly and slid it under the wax seal. But the moment the wax popped off she was hit with five megaton sized vision.

_A quaint road sign read Welcome to Storybrooke, Maine. A young boy, no older than 11, flipped through a large gilded book with colorful, life-like illustrations. The boy, sitting on a wooden play castle with a blonde woman. 'They're fairytale characters, cursed to live here?' He smiles at her.'You're going to break the curse, Emma,' he says. There's a sadness and love in the blonde woman's eyes. Vengence, anger, and carefully veiled pain flash from another set of eyes – those of an olive-skinned brunette. 'He's my son,' she practically growls. 'He's my son too,' answers the blonde. _

_The pages of the boy's book flip past – a drawing of a porcelain-skinned princess with black locks morphs into a real women, who looks quite the same, but a short boy cut. A handsome prince becomes an equally dashing man. A woman in a red cloak with a basket of muffins becomes a hip waitress setting down a stack of pancakes. A genie becomes a reporter. A twisted, gremlin-like man becomes a devious shopkeep. And so it goes, faster and faster, until almost a blur, until the barrage quite suddenly stops on a scene of a gorgeously decorated ballroom, the dark woman standing at the center. The painted scene comes to life and the woman, queen, vows to punish them all with dark magic. The kingdom is swallowed by a storm of what can only be the darkest of magic. The princess and prince huddle together in bed with a newborn, weeping. The prince fights his way to a wooden wardrobe, and places the baby inside, wrapped only in a blanket which read 'Emma'. The dark storm engulfs the entire kingdom. _

_The storm parts, and the village of Storybrooke reappears as a man on a motorcycle rolls into town. 'I'm August W. Booth.' The blonde and Booth are at a well. 'Say what you want about me – I always tell the truth.' The blonde scoffs. 'Magic? You sound like Henry.' 'Smart kid. So, this legend says that if you drink from the well, something that you've lost will return to you.' The young boy sits at a counter with the man.'I'm a writer.' The boy looks at skeptically. 'What are you really doing here?''Stuff. Good luck with your stories.'_

Phoebe inhaled sharply as she came back to reality. _'What the hell was that?' _she thought. Usually her visions were clearer, or at least more succinct. But for all she saw, she wasn't quite sure was it was all about. But it was something big. And evil. She looked back down at the letter and slowly opened it. It was a short note, which seemed to have been written with an old typewriter.

_Dear Phoebe,_

_If I know my stuff, and if anyone does, I do, then once you broke the seal, you should have seen why I'm writing you. I apologize for the crypticness, but I can't risk writing any details down. There are eyes and ears everywhere in this little village, but what I'm here to do is too important to risk trying to leave. I know I'm a stranger to you (of course, I could say that of everyone, but I'll tell you about that later), and you have no reason to trust me, but I'm hoping I can count on your help. I know who you and your sisters are, what you can do, and what you stand for. If you care for your children's futures, and I know you do, you'll come as quickly as possible. _

_I must should warn you, though, this won't be an afternoon soiree. I don't know exactly how long this will take, but this won't be finished in just a day or two. I must also ask three things of you, if we're to succeed: arrive just outside the town's limits, or risk being detected; bring your book, and you and your sisters must come alone. You can find me at Granny's . I'll explain everything there._

_And please, hurry, there's no time to waste._

_August Booth _

Phoebe sighed. It looked like she'd be taking that sabbatical after all. Who knew? Maybe it would be just what she needed. She leaned over and hit intercom button on her desk's landline phone. "Lindsey? Get me Elise on the line."

* * *

><p>An hour later, she and her sisters were in the attic, like so many times before, gathered around the family book of magic, the Book of Shadows. Phoebe had just gotten through explaining what she'd seen in her vision, and letting them go over the letter.<p>

Piper crossed her arms. "And you're certain this isn't some kind of a trap? I mean, he explicitly states to leave our family behind, and bring the book."

Phoebe shrugged. "Pretty sure. I mean, I didn't get a bad vibe from the guy in my vision."

"But he obviously did something the guarantee that you received that vision. And we all know it's possible to plant a purposely misleading one. We've done it before," replied Piper.

"Either way, something bad is going down. Something big," said Paige.

"And bad," added Phoebe. "Like, tip the balance of good and evil kind of bad. I know what I felt. And one hell of an evil witch at the center of it."

Piper threw up her hands. "Ok, okay. But if I end up in some ridiculous Renaissance Faire outfit, you're owing me a _year_ of on-demand babysitting duty."

"And what do I get if there are no silly costumes?"

"You'll still only owe me that month of babysitting duty you still owe me for the gnome fiasco!" replied Piper.

"Alright! Well, I'm afraid this cosmic taxi will need to check in with her husband and let him know what's going on, and tell the Elders I'll be off incommunicado, before I can take us to Maine," said Paige.

"Right," said Piper with a nod. "Phoebe and I will get our affairs in order, and we can leave this afternoon, after lunch. Agreed?" Her sisters nodded in affirmation and the three went their separate ways to get things situated so that they could be gone for a few days without coming home to a complete disaster.

A late lunch finished, and goodbyes said to the children, the Charmed Ones gathered once more in the attic, this time with their husbands. Piper gave Leo a quick peck. "You promise you're not letting the kids leave magic school until we're back?"

"Of course, honey."

She narrowed her eyes as his. "Even if Wyatt throws a fit about missing his karate class?"

Leo chuckled and made a cross over his heart. "I promise. Now don't worry. That's my job." He had been a powerless mortal for almost six years now, but staying behind while they went off into danger still wasn't any easier. He wasn't looking forward to the day his own children were the ones riding off into battle, either, but took comfort in the fact that, for now, he could still protect them.

"I promise, not matter what, that if any of the kids are in danger I'll come to get you girls immediately," said Coop, Phoebe's cupid husband. He was the only adult in the family, outside the sisters, that had any powers, and could sense his wife's whereabouts no matter the distance. It had come in handy for than once over the years, and made him a valuable asset when the mortals in the family had to hide for their own protection.

"Now, get out of here," added Paige's husband Henry. "The sooner you leave, the sooner we get you all back, right?" As the husband to the only sister still engaged in magical happenstances every day, providing guidance and protection to the forces of good magic, he'd gotten used to her putting herself in danger. He figured it was like being married to a cop. It didn't mean he wasn't scared she'd get hurt, but he'd learned how to not dwell on the worry.

"We'll try and check in," said Piper.

"But no promises," added Paige.

"Coop will be able to sense if anything is wrong with Phoebe, or if she needs anything. You guys just trust your magical instincts, and concentrate of getting home safe, okay?" said Leo. The three women nodded and joined hands. "And good luck," he added.

Piper smirked. " Back at ya. I just remembered – Chris has a dentist's appointment tomorrow. You're gonna need all the luck you can get."

Leo grimaced. "Paige, you don't remember the recipe to that body switching spell you made was, do?"

The group laughed. "Sorry, Leo," said Paige.

He shrugged. "Hey, worth a shot, right?"

"I don't envy you heading into yet another death-defying battle," said Henry. "Or the sister's duties either," he finished with a twinkle in his eye, to which everyone laughed.

"Alright everybody, time to go! This witch ain't vanquishing herself!" announced Piper as she took Paige's hand. Phoebe tucked the Book of Shadows under one arm and took Paige's other hand. The men waved goodbye as the three sisters dissolved into a million tiny orbs of light, which quickly disappeared themselves.

Moments later, on the other side of the continent, a duplicate set of glowing lights appeared in the trees, just aside from the road, in Maine. Not ten feet away stood the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign. Paige had looked up their destination before leaving, having never been there before, and no charge to focus on. When the sisters had reformed, they glanced about, taking in their surroundings. "Who put out the lights?" asked Paige, aloud. The sky was a dark blue, and the red haze of sunset still glowed in the sky, but it especially dark under the forest's coverage.

"They're three hours ahead of us on the east coast, remember," replied Phoebe. "So the sun has already set."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I do have charges I protect all across the globe, remember? Besides, I have just the thing." With a wave of her hand of light appeared, floating above the women's heads. "There. All better."

"Paige!" exclaimed Piper. "Are you crazy? Put those out before someone sees us!"

"Who's gonna see us? We're in the middle of the woods."

"Yeah, outside of a town that we were specifically told to be discreet about entering," said Piper.

"It's not like we're in real public, with like, security cameras and stuff. Hell, there probably aren't any people within miles of us."

At this a woman's voice echoed through the trees. "HENRY!"

Paige cocked her head and the orbs of light disappeared immediately. "Henry?"

"No one for miles, huh?" said Piper in a teasing tone.

"Can we save the 'I told you so's' for later?" replied Paige.

Another frantic cry rang out in the forest, this time that of a young boy. "EMMA!" At this, the three sisters took off in the direction of the screaming.

They heard three gunshots ring out. "Henry! Henry?" called the woman's voice. "I scared it away! Where are you?"

"Over here," cried Henry, and the sisters came skidding to a halt as they pinpointed the voice as coming from the trees overhead. "I'm alri-" he was interrupted by a thunderous snapping of wood and Paige suddenly saw a boy falling from the sky, plummeting like a rock to the ground below, head first.

"Kid!" she cried, and he dematerialized in orbs, only to reappear in her arms. A moment later there was the sound of splintering wood, shattering glass, and the metallic thump of denting steel. Piper and Phoebe spun around towards the noise, to see Paige gently placing the boy on his feet, and a VW bug that looked like it had gotten on the bad side of a very angry Tree Ent.

Moments later a woman with long blonde hair, dressed in a leather coat, jeans, and black leather boots arrived, halting for only a moment as she saw the unexpected strangers before she was tackled by a relieved Henry. She dropped to one knee and wrapped her arms around the boy "Jesus, Henry, you scared the hell out of me!" She ended the embrace and moved her hands to his shoulders, looking him in the eye. "Are you alright?"

Henry nodded. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine! They saved me!" he pointed at the three women standing next to Emma's destroyed vehicle.

Emma's eyes widened at the sight, but she only let herself be distracted for a second before turning her attention back to the women. "Thank you – I mean, really. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been here…"

"No problem," replied Paige, used to hearing such utterances thanks to her whitelighter duties. "Glad we could help."

"Right. And I don't mean to be rude, because I truly am grateful, but who are you people, and why are you out in the middle of the woods?" said Emma. She may not have believed Henry's stories, but lately it had become clear that something was rotten in Storybrooke, and it didn't pay to trust blindly.

Piper raised an eyebrow. "We could ask you the same thing," she replied sarcastically.

Emma drew herself back to her feet and pushed aside he part of her coat obscuring her badge. "Sheriff of Storybrooke."

"Emma," said Phoebe suddenly, as she realized these were the woman and small boy from her vision.

"Emma? You mean the one from your…?" asked Paige.

Phoebe nodded. "Yep. That's the one."

Emma narrowed her eyes at the three strange women. "The one from your what? And who are you people?"

"Ask Phoebe!" exclaimed Henry as he recognized the middle sister.

"Who's Phoebe?" Emma asked Henry.

"That would be me."

"Should that mean something?" asked Emma.

"It means, she's here to help! Look!" He pulled a folded up square of newspaper from his pocket. "See? It says so right there. 'She has all the answers!' You're here to help break the curse, right?"

Emma took the clipping and immediately knew why Henry had fixated on it. Magic, right there in the headline. But clearly metaphorical, she concluded as she scanned the text. She suppressed a sigh, hoping that these women weren't here because Henry had asked them for help. At the very least, she could rest assured that they weren't crazy people simply wandering the woods.

Phoebe nodded and smiled. "That we are!"

'_Or not…'_ thought Emma. _'Aren't licensed psychologists supposed to be sane?'_ She crossed her arms, making sure it was clear there would be no funny business. "Look, I don't know what Henry told you, but if we could speak in private, and I could explain some things to you…"

"Henry didn't contact us," replied Phoebe.

"Then why are you out here?" asked Emma, skeptically. "And who did?"

"We were told to start here," replied Piper. "By an August Booth."

'_Booth?'_ she thought. _'Why in the hell would he be inviting an advice columnist to Storybrooke? And who does he think he is, involving __**my **__kid?' _

Phoebe raised her hands in supplication. "Hey, look, I can sense you're confused and a little pissed off here, but we probably know as much about what's going on as you do! Or why he's involving your son!"

Emma studied the woman's face. She wasn't lying, that much she could tell – so whatever was going on she believed in what she was saying. "Ok, look, I don't think you people really know what you're getting into, but this town is-" A realization struck her. "How did you know he's my son?"

"Would you believe… magic?" said Paige.

"Paige…" warned Piper.

"What? Obviously the kid knows it's real – why wouldn't she?" shot back Paige.

That was it. Whatever was going on here, these women really believed in magic, and whether they were dangerous or not, Henry didn't need another adult feeding into his fantasies. She'd entertained them for a few days after the psycho Jefferson had disappeared, but came to her senses. After all, if magic was real, then that would mean Regina was really an evil witch in the literal sense. She was certainly that in the figurative way. And that meant everything else that Henry said was true. That she'd found her family. That she was a princess. That Graham's death was her fault. That If she'd simply helped him find – _'NO.'_ That was too much. Too ridiculous. Too painful. She swallowed hard. "Look ladies. I don't care if you're famous, or whatever. I don't care what you believe – magic crystals, chakras, past lives, the Easter Bunny, whatever. But you don't take my kid down the rabbit hole with you. Magic isn't real. Thank you for saving him, but I need to call a tow truck, and you need to go. _Now."_

"But-" began Phoebe.

"I said, _now._" They all recognized that momma bear growl, having heard it in their sister's voices before, but only Piper had been on the other side of the conversation enough times to know how to get her say. Steamroll over it.

"Ok, look," began Piper forcefully." I'm a mom too, and believe you me, I know what it's like to worry about your kid and bad influences. And there's nothing I want more than to get back to my own children, but magic is real, and the first step toward getting rid of us is you realizing that. So how's about you give us _one_ chance to prove that it's all real. Right here. Right now. We win, you help us. If we fail, we leave Storybrooke, never to return! Deal?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Piper!" hissed Phoebe. She knew from personal experience that people often needed more than one demonstration before they believed. And the consequence of keep up their end of the deal, should Piper lose, had dire, if unknown, circumstances.

Emma extended a hand, confident that she'd already won. "Deal. " She and Piper shook hands, sealing the genlewoman's agreement. "So, what, you gonna pull a rabbit out of a hat?"

Piper huffed smugly. "How about I just save you the cost of a tow truck?" Phoebe and Paige exchanged glancing as they realized what she was up to.

"You're gonna have to pull a lot of quarters from behind my ears before you can pay for that!" Henry watched on excitedly awaiting his first real look at magic.

"Not exactly what I had in mind. Now, I don't need you smoke and mirrors or something, so just touch the car. Inspect the inside, yadda yadda yadda."

Emma stepped up to the vehicle, finding it solid. It looked like her car. The upholstery was worn in the right spots. And a photo booth strip of pictures of her and Henry lay impaled on a twig. She wasn't one for material things, usually, but this was different. She began to reach in to retrieve the one of a kind object.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't take anything out!" warned Piper.

"It's a pictures of me and the kid. I don't need you damaged them even more with some parlor trick," replied Emma.

"Trust me," said Piper.

Emma gave her a sardonic look. "Wasn't the whole point here that I could verify that this is really my vehicle and not just some set up?"

Piper nodded. "Right. Ok, fine, check it, but put it back when you're done. But really, I promise, you'll be glad you left it in the car."

Emma closely examined the photo. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she examined it thoroughly before placing it back in the vehicle. "You better not make me regret this."

"You won't" replied Paige lightly. "You should probably step back now, though. Don't wanna get caught it the magical crossfire, so to speak."

Emma stepped back, next to Henry. "Well?"

Piper looked at her youngest sister. "Paige?"

Paige nodded and cried out, "tree branch!" and the offending wooden limb disappeared like something out of Star Trek.

Piper turned back to the car. "Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause this sight be unseen." With that, the car was engulfed in sparkling lights for just a moment, and when the lights cleared there was her VW, good as new, and the giant tree branch gone.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Henry.

Emma stepped cautiously back up to the car. Supposedly, her car. All the tell-tale natural wear and tear where present in all the right places but I true con artist could recreate almost anything. Why they'd want to recreate her VW she couldn't say. But then there was the picture. She picked up the rectangular strip of photos from it's dashboard mounting place. It couldn't be possible. At least she didn't think so. She suddenly noticed hand trembling and she flipped it over. There, the same message, in Henry's unmistakable chicken scratch, also smudged in all the same places from him not having enough patience to let the ink dry before handling it again. "What… what did you…?" She was at a loss for words as she found herself, for the second time in a week, confronted with something she couldn't explain.

"We told you," replied Paige. "Magic."

"There has to be another explanation…" said Emma, her mind still following itself into a pretzel trying to rationalize what she just saw. "Magic?" The sisters nodded and all Emma could think was that the Occam's Razor method of deduction seem so ludicrous as right then.

"Magic," replied Piper simply. "Now, how about a lift into town. You did agree to help us."

Emma ran a hand through her hair, still dumbfounded, and fumbled in her pants pocket for her keys. The four adults, and Henry, soon squeezed themselves into the compact vehicle. Emma turned the key, starting the vehicle up and they took off down the road into Storybrooke at a leisurely pace that was unusual for Emma. But her brain was still sorting itself, adjusting to her whole world being turned on its ear, and anything faster seemed positively breakneck to her at the moment.

She glanced up at her rearview mirror and saw Henry happily conversing with that Phoebe woman while flipping through the heavy tome the other sister had been carrying, but not a word of it was getting through her overloaded senses. Was it another book of fairytales, or was it a book of spells? "Henry?" she asked, finally. "I guess you were right about the whole magic thing after all… I guess that means I owe you Sundae, huh, kid?" to which he nodded. Her tone was more pulled together and lighter than she felt, which was no small feat. She knew she still wasn't ready to believe in the fairy tales, and everything that went with it, but there was no use denying it. Magic was real.

'_Shit'._

* * *

><p>Regina snapped upright suddenly, pen still poised mid-signature on some official document. She sat, still as a statue, except for her eyes darting about. She sensed something. Something magical. Something magical and not of Storybrooke. It was magic that reeked of two things: goodness, and this world – a world that was supposed to not have magic. It was in her kingdom. And it was powerful.<p> 


	2. Pathfinding

**Chapter 2: Pathfinding**

It wasn't long until the charming little hamlet of Storybrooke came into view, although Emma was operating on autopilot as she navigating her way to Granny's Bed and Breakfast. She glanced at her rearview mirror for what was probably the hundredth time, studying the two women stuffed into the back seat of the tiny car, chatting with Henry. They didn't look crazy. Emma herself felt crazier than they looked, simply by virtue of what she'd just witnessed. And even if it was all real, how did she know these women were on the level?

"You can trust us." Emma flinched, surprised at the voice suddenly breaking her ruminations. It was the woman who had said she was a mother as well. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

Emma shrugged, doing her best to seem nonchalant. "Hey – no problem. I was just thinking." She paused. "Sorry… I didn't catch your name."

"Piper. Piper Halliwell."

"Right. Piper," she nodded. "Emma Swan – though I'm getting the impression you already knew that."

Piper shrugged. "In a manner of speaking."

"Look – I… yeah. This is a lot to take in. And I'm still not sure what I believe."

"I don't blame you. My sisters and I know what it's like to have the whole prophesized savior thing dumped on us as well. And if I were you, I wouldn't know what to trust, either. Like I said, I'm a Mom. I get it. You_ were_ trying to decide if you can trust us, right?"

Emma shrugged. "Wouldn't you?"

"Hell yes. And you don't strike me as the wilting flower type. Which is why I know that simply telling you is pointless."

The blonde shot her a skeptical sideling glance. "So your plan for winning my trust…?"

"Not a clue," replied Piper simply. "But… I'm hoping you come around to trusting your son's judgment. Not holding my breath, of course."

Emma smirked, finding herself liking the woman, despite her skepticism. "Almost sounds like you've been in the same boat."

"In many ways, yes, I have. Except, he was just a baby. At least your son can talk. But there's something to be said for trusting your instincts. Or his, in my case. Especially when it comes to magic."

There was a long pause and Emma parsed through what the woman had just said. "So I'm just supposed to trust you because Henry does?"

Piper cocked her head, looking at the blonde woman. "What does_ your_ gut tell you?"

"It says that…" Emma shook her head. "… I can't believe I'm even having this conversation."

"And…" prompted Piper.

"And God help me – I think you're on the level."

"Well, that's a start," replied Piper as Emma pulled her car up to a curb and parked alongside a house that looked as old as the Manor back in San Francisco. Only the signage betrayed it to be a bed and breakfast rather than a home. "Granny's, huh?" Henry nodded, as did Emma, albeit without the boy's enthusiasm. "Don't tell me that this Booth guy is the Big Bad Wolf? I've already met my lifetime quota of being swallowed by fairy tale wolves."

Henry's head shot between the two front seats. "You've met a big bad wolf?" he exclaimed in a way most little boys would reserve for stories about their sports heroes.

Piper couldn't help but smirk. Her boys, having grown up with magic, had never shown this kind of enthusiasm for the subject. Emma, meanwhile, was at a loss for words as her brain flitted between a knew-jerk sarcastic response and the realization that she needed to learn fast if she hoped to face the unfathomable. Piper, noticing Emma's flummoxed state, simply held up a hand. "Long story. Don't worry about it. Well… unless there _is_ one."

Henry shook his head. "Nah. See, Red Riding Hood kind of _is_ the wolf. At least, she was. I don't think the werewolf thing works in Storybrooke."

"Why do I get the feeling that Grams' storybook wasn't totally accurate?" remarked Phoebe.

"My book isn't like _any_ other versions out there. I just wish I knew where it came from!" replied Henry.

"Well, how did you come into possession of it?" asked Paige.

"Ms. Blanchard, my teacher, gave it to me. She's Snow White, by the way!"

"But she doesn't know it?" asked Paige as she unfolded herself to climb out of the cramped back seat.

"Nope!" replied Henry brightly, scooting along to follow her out the car door "But she will soon enough, right?"

Paige smirked. "We'll see, kid. Once we know a little more. Operation Cobra needs a plan if we're gonna win."

"Operation Cobra?" asked Piper.

"Henry's code name for…." Emma sighed. "Breaking the curse. Which is totally not a figment of his imagination…" she added the last to herself.

The group of five let themselves in to Granny's and made their way to August's room, where Emma knocked briskly. "You there?" she called through the door.

A pause, followed by a man's voice. "Be right there!" The snap of a few latches and something scraping against the floor could be heard before the door opened. "Emma! To what do I owe the pleasure?" But before Emma could answer, the scruffy man caught sight of the three sisters and he swung the door open the rest of the way. "You got my letter," he stated at Phoebe simply, and stepped to one side. "Come in – come in."

The party of five shuffled into the tiny room and Piper crossed her arms. "Alright. You got us here. What's this all about?"

"It's like I said – you can help us lift the curse!" exclaimed Henry.

"Right…. Fairy tales," replied Paige.

Booth nodded. "You, of all people, should understand how real, and how important, the fairy tale realm is, Paige."

"How do you know my name?" asked Paige suspiciously. "And what do you mean me, 'of all people'?"

"Wait – you're not from this other supposed place?" asked Emma.

"It' s not 'supposed'. It's real," replied August simply.

"And we sure as hell aren't from there," added Piper. "Wherever that is. Unless you count San Francisco as a kingdom 'far, far, away'."

Paige shrugged. "I dunno. Half the people in the Haight look like they're from another planet. And there is that one guy who calls himself the King of Fairies…" she laughed.

"Wait – so you can do magic but you're not like, fairies from Henry's book or something?" asked Emma. The sisters shook their heads. "Well, what are you then?"

"They're witches," replied August.

"Witches," stated Emma, to which Booth nodded. "But you're good? Like, what? Glenda the Good Witch?"

"For lack of a better example – sure let's go with that," said Phoebe.

Piper held up her hands. "Ok, look. I know how crazy this all sounds, believe me. Try finding out you _are _a witch with some convoluted prophesized destiny when you're an adult."

"She has. She 's the prophesized savior!" replied Henry.

Paige chuckled. "Touché."

Emma shook her head. "Whoah, hey, I'm just getting my head around this magic thing. We can discuss this whole savior thing another time."

"No, we can't," said August seriously. "We're running out of time."

"Time for what?" asked Phoebe.

"To break the curse," replied Henry.

"That's not all," said Booth. He lifted a pant leg to reveal a wooden leg. "I haven't got much time left. I'm reverting. And it's speeding up."

"Hold on – you can't be saying what I think you're saying…" said Emma. "That's not possible…"

"You're Pinnochio!" exclaimed Henry, to which August nodded in affirmation. His delight was extremely short-lived, however, as he realized the implications of what he'd just seen. "But why are you turnin' back? I thought that the Blue Fairy-"

"- turned me into a real boy? She did. But remember what she said?" asked Booth.

"Only as long as you are brave, truthful, and selfless," replied Paige. At her sister looks she shrugged. "What? It's not like the evil enchantress was the only story I knew!"

August nodded. "Let's just say I haven't been a very good boy." Despite the flippant language, the guilt in his tone made it quite clear how ashamed he was. "And now I'm paying the price. That's why I contacted you, Phoebe."

"But how do you know who we are?" asked Phoebe.

"Why shouldn't he – everybody else seems to!" grumbled Piper.

August nodded."You may not have been exposed to the mortal realm, but you're as big as they come in the magical community. Never mind your run in with fairytale magic before," said August.

"The Keeper of Fairy Tales," said Piper.

August nodded. "His apprentice was a very good friend of mine. That's how I knew how to contact you."

The muted chimes of a cellphone ringtone coming from Henry's backpack cut off any further explanation. He quickly pulled off the pack and dug through, looking for the phone, finding it quickly. "Regina?" asked Emma. Henry nodded. "You should probably answer it. She's suspicious enough as it is…"

Henry sighed before answering. "Hi… uh-huh… yeah, we were just…" A disappointed look clouded his face. "But – but…. Yeah. Okay. I will. Bye." Henry shoved the phone back into his pack. "She says I've gotta go home. I think she might be on to us – she sounds really weird. Can you just, like, say you need my help at the station or something?"

"Henry…" began Emma. "You know I can't."

"But-"

"Henry." The boy sighed, but relented. "I promise I'll give you a full recap tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright…"

"So, you need me to take you home?"

"Nah… she's downstairs waiting in the diner."

"Which means she's probably seen my car." Emma patted him on the shoulder. "Which means, you should probably get going. No need to give her an excuse to snoop, and uncover Operation Cobra, right?"

Henry nodded. "Yeah…" He gave Emma a quick hug before waving goodbye to the sisters and Booth. "See you tomorrow!"

"Later, kiddo," replied Paige.

When the boy had made his way down the stairs Piper turned to Emma. "So why 'Operation Cobra'?"

Emma nodded. "Henry came up with the codename for what I thought, until a half hour ago, was a harmless little fantasy about breaking a curse. He chose it because it sounds like it has nothing to do with magic." She turned back to August. "So what does this fairy tale keeper have to do with everything?"

"He keeps fairy tale magic safe," said August. "When the Queen banished everyone to this world, many of the objects from that world came along, like being sucked up by a tornado, and were scattered across this world."

"And that means _what_, exactly?" replied Emma flatly.

"Fairy tales, and their magic, are the guiding force of this world's moral compass," said Booth.

"But they're just stories. I mean, okay, apparently about real events, but still just stories," said Emma incredulously.

"Sort of," replied Piper. "I don't quite get how it works, but-"

"We're connected. All realms are. This one and ours are just a little more so than most," interjected August.

"Thank you captain magic," replied Piper. "Anyway. However it works, you change the story, you change the message, and we're gonna have a world that doesn't believe in happy endings, or integrity, bravery, or any other the other lessons in fairytales."

Emma frowned in confusion. "And? There's plenty of people out there, myself included, that don't believe in happy endings."

"But you still believe in kindness and integrity," replied Booth. "Why else would you save Regina from that fire?"

"It was the right thing to do," said Emma.

"And where did you learn that from? Your foster parents?" asked Booth.

Emma crossed her arms. "I'll ignore that little jibe for now. But I think I know what you're saying. And that's not a world I want Henry to inherit. But still, what does this 'keeper' do?"

"He keeps things," replied Piper. Emma raised an eyebrow. "Ok, ok. He guards the fairytale magic by guarding the artifacts."

August nodded. "Each of which is imbued with fairytale magic. Which is different than the magic in this world. It can be used to reach the world of fairytales and alter them"

"Ok, so how is it that Regina hasn't just turned me into a toad or something if there's magic here too?" asked Emma.

"There's no fairytale magic here – aside from that inside the objects the Keeper protects – in this world," said August.

"But there's other magic…" said Emma.

Paige nodded. "Right."

"But she can't tap into it," added Booth.

"So, what? It's like fairytale magic here is diesel, and her powers can only run on unleaded?" asked Paige.

"Right," said August.

"So, why doesn't she just steal them?" asked Piper.

"She doesn't even know about it at all, as far as I can tell," replied Booth.

"And you know about it because…?" asked Paige.

"Because a fairy tale character gets around enough and eventually the Keeper will notice you. He can sense the magic. And since I originated in the fairy tale realm he could sense me just as he can any of his objects. Long story short – there's more than one Keeper. Each guards the items from each realm. When Regina cursed her realm she upset the balance everywhere. This real is like a vacuum of magic, compared to the others."

"And since nature abhors a vacuum, everything ended up sucked into here?" asked Paige.

August nodded. "You met the Grimm Brother, Piper, but you could have just as easily met the Keeper of Wonderland, or Aesop. The Elders set up the Keepers Council when Storybrooke, and all the objects, appeared."

"So, why didn't the Elders shut down this whole curse thing the moment they appeared?" asked Phoebe.

"Since when have the Elders actually done something sensible?" replied Piper.

"Hey, I'm not their biggest fan, myself, but in this case, they can't do anything. This world's magic can't effect fairy tale magic – and vice versa," replied August. "If it could, I wouldn't be turned to wood."

"Ok, so this still doesn't explain why you know all this and this evil queen doesn't," said Paige.

"Regina can't leave Storybrooke anymore than anyone else, and the Elders have kept Storybrooke cloaked, so no mortal stays long. I didn't know this, of course." He turned to face Emma. "My father had made a deal, to keep me safe, by sending me through the same wardrobe that saved you. I was that boy who 'found' you on the road, Emma," he revealed quietly.

"What?" exclaimed Emma. "But – how? And how am I supposed to know you're even telling the truth?"

"The blanket you were found with had your name embroidered on it. And the boy who found disappeared shortly after he was taken to the same group home that you were." Emma's face drained of color, her mouth hung open, at a loss for words. "I'm so sorry Emma. I should have taken care of you... I can't ask for your forgiveness. I don't deserve it – I let everyone down."

Emma swallowed and looked at him, her eyes hard for a moment before she finally shrugged "It's okay. Really. You were seven years old –you can't take care of anyone at that age. The system wouldn't have let you stay with me anyway."

"She's right," interjected Paige. "I should know, I was given up as a baby, too, and used to be a social worker. Without proof that you're related, there's no way they're gonna keep some boy with no paper trail, with an infant."

"That doesn't make it right. And I promise you, Emma, I won't let you down again," he added with resolve. "I eventually ran into a Keeper, and became good friends with his apprentice, who kept me hidden from the Elders. He was a true friend – and I think he thought of me as his first 'artifact'." He smiled wistfully. "I eventually got the travel bug again and struck out on my own, building contacts with any magical creatures I could find, which inevitably led to someone squealing. When the Elders found out about me and Emma, I talked them into leaving well enough alone. After all, Emma had grown up in this world; everyone here didn't remember their old lives – forever young." Booth turned to the small window of his room, holding his hands behind his back, and gazed out of the window. "Once they found me, there was no going back. That was a year ago. They brought me back to my senses. It's not just about saving my friends and father from the curse. It can only go on so long before the curse would erase all fairytales, dooming the billions of people here as well. I've been working with them ever since."

"Right," said Paige. "So, keep evil witch away from magical museums. But why do you need us for that? If their magic doesn't affect fairy tale magic, ours shouldn't either."

"That's not why I contacted you." He sighed. "I strayed, and I'm paying the price. And now, no matter what I do, there's no escaping my fate. When Emma began to weaken the curse, I started to revert. For all the good that may come from helping Emma break the curse, it will still be selfish, since it helps me. All I can hope is that breaking the curse will give me a second chance." He turned back around. "But what's done is done, and someone who knows magic needs to be here to help Emma. So, who better than the Charmed Ones? You world is just as much at stake as ours. You'll find a way."

"Uh. Huh," said Piper, crossing her arms, and turned to her sisters. "Just once it would be nice to have a choice in these things."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Tell me about it. I didn't ask for any of this."

"And yet you seem pretty calm about it," replied Paige. "I was pretty freaked out the first time I saw magic. And met my dead mother in the same day."

"I think it hasn't sunk in yet," replied Phoebe. "She's more numb than anything else."

"And I should probably wonder how you know that, but I'm not going to, for probably exactly the reason you just said," added Emma. "I think I'm in information overload – and my brain is still in buffering mode. Give it an hour."

"Fair enough," replied Paige.

"Maybe not. We need to act fast. Every minute we waste is one that Regina has to work against us," said August.

"It's been 28 years. How much could another day matter?" asked Emma.

"That was 28 of statis. Time is moving again, Emma. I wouldn't be turning to wood if it wasn't."

"Oh. Right," said Emma. "Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," replied August.

"Destiny is funny like that," remarked Paige.

"Gotta love it. Oh, wait. I don't," added Piper. "But they're right. Destiny always gets its way."

"I make my own destiny," replied Emma resolutely.

Piper shook her head. "It only goes so far. Trust me. I've tried."

"So why try at all, if it's all going to happen, anyway?" asked Emma.

"Because how it gets its way is only half of it. It's how we get there that is up to us. And some paths are a helluva lot better than others," answered Piper, whose tone made it clear she'd been down that road more than once. "Besides, the sooner we get started, the sooner we all get home."

Emma nodded. "And the sooner this craziness is over with. I hope."

"Right," said Paige. "So how do we break this curse?"

"I'm not entirely sure. But I think the key is making people remember who they really are," said August.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked Piper.

August shrugged. "How did you wake up Graham, Emma?"

"I don't even know that I did," replied Emma. "And how do you know about him?" 

"I haven't been driving around town all day for my health," replied August. "I've been asking around. And he had to have woken up. Regina wouldn't have killed him, otherwise."

"He died of a heart attack!" argued Emma. "I should know – I was there. And we were alone."

"Right. A young, healthy man in prime physical condition just happens to drop dead, of a heart attack, right after you become his deputy," said August.

"Look, Booth, plenty of people have heart conditions they don't know about," answered Emma hotly.

"Don't those usually need the person's heart rate to be elevated to set them off?" remarked Phoebe who was abruptly hit by a wave of embarrassment from Emma. Phoebe laughed. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!"

Emma looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened, putting two and two together. "What? No! No! It was just a kiss!"

Paige smirked. "Niiiice." Emma's face dropped at this, and Paige suddenly realized that he must died at that moment."Oh, honey, sorry. Not nice. But at least you know it's not your fault, now, right?"

Emma blinked thoughtfully. "I suppose so." Her eyes took on a hardness and she shook her head. "I can't believe I saved that bitch's life," she growled.

"You saved her because you're a good person," said August.

"Remember that," added Phoebe. "Don't let her bring you down to her level."

"Lucky for her, the only person she loves happens to be my son…." said Emma.

"Lucky for you both," replied Phoebe. "Vengeance isn't a road you want to go down. Trust me."

"So, you were kissing him when it happened?" asked Piper, trying to get the discussion back on track.

Emma nodded slowly. "Come to think of it, he was acting weird. Maybe he had remembered. He was trying to tell me, and I just kept blowing him off... if I had just listened to him!" she growled at herself.

"It's not your fault, honey," said Phoebe. "You couldn't have known."

"She's right. The important thing now is to not let his death go to waste," said August. "Now think, what happened right before he started to remember?"

"He said… " Emma cleared her throat. She was a private person and all this sharing was more than she'd ever engaged in, aside from Mary. "He said that he realized that he hadn't ever felt anything, until we kissed. And that Regina had stolen his heart. We went looking for it, and didn't find it of course. How is that even possible?"

"A horcrux," remarked August.

"Like, in Harry Potter?" asked Paige.

August nodded. "Terrible magic. A person's heart, metaphorically speaking, can be stolen from their soul, leaving that person, well, heartless. It's great for creating remorseless guards, assassins, et cetera. And also a great failsafe, should the slave need to be eliminated. Destroy the horcrux and you destroy them."

"That's awful," replied Phoebe.

Emma shook her head. "Well, whatever. It stops now. Regina isn't hurting anyone I love, ever again."

"Which is why we need to be careful. If she suspects you believe, or that anyone is remembering their true identities that person will be in serious danger," said August.

"Wait a minute, if she's so powerful why hasn't she just killed Emma?" asked Piper.

"Because if Emma dies, the curse will be broken, and she'll have an entire city of people out to kill her," answered August.

"Well, at least there's that," remarked Paige. "So, how to we break this curse without Emma losing her life?"

"I'm not entirely sure. But I do know that Mr. Gold knows. He crafted it, and made sure he'd remember. No way would he let Regina have that kind of upper hand."

"So let's go talk to him," said Piper. "It doesn't sound like he's a fan of hers either. What is he, like Merlin?"

"Rumpelstiltskin," said August.

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Emma. At Booth's deadpan expression, she rolled her eyes. "You're not. Well, I can see why he goes with Mr. Gold…."

"Dealing with Rumpelstiltskin isn't to be taken lightly. His only allegiance to himself. If we tip our hand too soon, he could play it against us," said August. "And I was just a boy when this all happened. I only know as much about him as anyone who's read Henry's book, which leads me to believe he's trying to find his son. But there could be more deals in the work. After all, he's the one who foretold your return, Emma."

"Ok, who can we trust that has dealt with him in the past?" asked Piper.

"Mary Margaret," said Emma.

"Who?"

"My roommate. Snow White…" answered Emma softly. "And my mother."

"And I thought our family was screwy!" exclaimed Paige. The rest of those assembled gave her a look. "What?"


	3. Spitballing

**Chapter 3: Spitballing**

"So now what?" asked Emma. The four women had just settled into a far corner booth at Granny's, after Emma was careful to make sure Regina had already left with Henry. August had said he needed to rest, as he could now barely walk, and needed to conserve energy. He had also explained that he believed that any form of dishonesty, including simple social subterfuge, was speeding up the petrifaction process. So, after a simple suggestion that Mary's trigger would likely be tied to sparking her connection to Emma, the women had excused themselves. Although he'd offered to be on standby with his phone, should they have any questions, Emma was hesitant interrupt his rest. While she knew it was ultimately Regina's fault, she couldn't help but feel guilty that August was quickly being overtaken by his past as Pinocchio. She knew it wasn't rational, but she couldn't take something like what happened to Graham, happening to Booth.

"You tell us," replied Phoebe. "Snow White's your mother."

Emma shook her head. "Can we just stick to calling her Mary, please? The Snow White thing is weird enough. I can't wrap my mind around her being my mother to boot."

"Why not? I mean, I know you never knew her, but I've been there," replied Paige.

"Not like this you haven't," said Emma.

Phoebe nodded. "We lost our mother before Paige and I were old enough to remember her. We only met her a few years ago."

Emma realized that the Halliwells hadn't actually met any fairy tale characters, except August, and as such, didn't realize they hadn't aged. "Yeah, except your Mom wasn't the same age as you."

Phoebe smirked. "Oh, yes she was!"

"You're kidding," replied Emma flatly.

"You're gonna wear that phrase out before the day is over, if you don't start realizing that with magic, anything is possible," teased Paige. "Hell, she was younger than me, the last night we saw her!"

"So… what? Your Mom stuck in some kinda limbo too, or something?" asked Emma.

Paige shook her head. "No… she passed away. Killed by a demon who didn't take kindly to her taking away his source of camper snacks."

"Demons are real too? You're kid- ugh, nevermind. Go on. So, he was stealing people's camping food?"

"No, more like eating campers. Like, kid's summer camp, campers," replied Paige.

"Oh, God!" exclaimed Emma. "I'm so sorry… your mother sounds like an incredible woman."

Piper nodded. "She is."

"So, what, I guess her ghost still looks like your age, then?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah. But the first time I met her, she was very much alive, and very much in her twenties. And pregnant with me." She shrugged. "Long story short, we went back to the 70's to get her and our Grams' help with our own demon problem."

"She was a ghost when I met her. And of course, she came to the future, from a time even earlier in the 70s, so she was like, 5 years younger than me.," said Paige.

"And, like, 8 years younger than me!" Piper shook her head. "Yeah, too weird."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "And you say my family is screwy?" The women all chuckled.

Phoebe tilted her head. "So, I don't get it. How has it been 28 years and your mother hasn't aged a day?"

Before Emma could answer, an older, but still vibrant woman, arrived at their table, holding a pencil and pad of paper. "What a rare treat – we almost never see visitors in this town! Welcome to Grannys! Are they friends of yours, Emma?"

Emma nodded. "Uh, yeah, friends from Baltimore. Just visiting."

"Well, any friend of yours is a friend of mine. How are you liking Storybrooke, so far?"

The three sisters all gave her wider than necessary smiles. "Oh, it's certainly memorable!" said Paige.

"Good, good. Well, can I get you anything? I make a wonderful cherry cobbler – just finished baking!"

"Uh, maybe another time," replied Piper. "We're, uh, not hungry just now. I could use a cup of tea, though."

"Chamomile, alright?"

"That was would be perfect!" replied Piper, genuinely.

Granny nodded. "And the rest of you?"

"Coffee," replied Phoebe and Paige in unison.

"Make that three," said Emma. "The usual mocha."

"Coming right up!" replied the aging woman. "Just holler if you need me!"

When she had moved a safe distance from the booth, Emma leaned in. "Does that look like someone who would have been a Granny 28 years ago?" She also nodded at the saucily dressed young woman behind the counter, clad in a red cardigan. "That would be Little Red Riding Hood. It still sounds insane when I say it!"

"But isn't Red Riding Hood supposed to be a kid?" asked Paige.

Phoebe shook her head. "Not necessarily – the story is widely thought of as an allegory for sex, with the wolf being either temptation to go off the right path, or give in to sexual desire. Viewed from that perspective, it would make sense that she'd be of a marriageable, fertile age."

Paige narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Cripes, woman! Is there anything that _isn't_ about sex, according to psychologists?"

"Sure. Actual sex," Piper rejoined, sarcastically, before turning her attention back to Emma. "So, what you're saying is this whole town has been, like, frozen for 28 years?"

Emma shook her head. "Not exactly. According to Henry, everyone has essentially been walking around in a haze, with implanted memories. Never aging. Nothing ever moving forward."

"So, like the DMV?" remarked Paige.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "So everyone look the same as the day they left the fairytale realm?"

"Apparently. So, you can imagine that when Henry insisted that his teacher, and my roommate who by all appearances couldn't be more than a couple years older than me, if that, was my mother, I didn't really believe it was possible."

"So how did you end up living together then?" asked Piper.

Emma shrugged. "I needed a place to stay, and she offered. Truth be told, it was like I trusted her immediately. Which is_ not_ something I do. Ever."

Phoebe smiled. "See? You are connected. Always have been, even before you two knew it."

Emma smiled briefly. "Yeah. I guess so. Still, it's just… I can only wrap my head around one piece of insanity at a time! I mean… she's _Mary_."

"So. The question is, how do we use that bond?" asked Piper. Granny appeared at their table and quickly unloaded her tray of hot beverages. She appeared to realize that the group was in need of some privacy and made herself scarce without a word.

Emma gently dusted her coffee with a shaker full of cinnamon sugar thoughtfully. "If August is right, I need to figure out some way to connect on a deeper level with Mary Margaret."

"Well, this Graham woke up when you kissed him, right?" said Pheobe.

Emma shot her a wide eyed look of horror. "If you're suggesting that I kiss Mary Margaret, you ca forget it! We're close, but I don't need her thinking I'm coming on to her or-" She shuddered. "Never mind that she's my _mother_!"

Paige laughed. "Relax, I wasn't suggesting that! That would be… yeah, ew. No, what I was thinking is like… Booth said that you were found with a blanket. And having been given up for adoption, left only with a blanket myself, I'm guessing you still have it."

Emma nodded. "I thought you were all sisters?"

"We can swap our Annie stories later," replied Paige. "But you have your blanket?"

"Yeah. But she's already seen it – and it didn't seem to trigger anything I noticed," said Emma.

"Ok, well, maybe it's context. Like seeing you wrapped in it?" asked Phoebe.

Emma shrugged. "You're the magic experts, not me. But we've been living together for months now. I don't know what it could be."

"Are we sure she should even be woken up? I mean why not Prince Charming. He _is_ a prince and all. Doesn't that mean trained in fencing and all those other manly warmongering pursuits?" asked Paige. "What's Snow White gonna do? Bake a pie at her? Faint her into submission? Send an army of sparrows to poop on the Queen until she ends the curse?" Suddenly realizing that was Emma's mother she was talking about, Paige cringed at the blonde. "No offense."

Emma simply pulled Henry's storybook open. "None taken. Turns out, the Disneyfied version is pretty much what you'd expect from a bunch of 1930's male chauvinists." She pointed to an illustration of a dark-haired woman, decked out in an outfit more fitting for a huntsman than a princess, leading a group similarly dressed, short make companions, and a girl who bore a striking resemblance to the woman wiping down the diner's countertop.

"That's Snow White?" said Paige. Emma flipped through a few more pages. "Now, see, Piper. If this was what Grams' book of fairytales looked like, I'd be totally down with reading them to my kids! She's a badass!"

Emma nodded. "Mary isn't quite like the woman I've read about here, but the sparks still there. Henry believes it has something to do with replacing their memories."

"Well, if she reacts anything like I would in her situation, I can't think of any better ally to wake first," said Piper.

"And Piper's the scariest momma grizzly around," added Phoebe.

Emma smirked, narrowing her eyes. "You haven't seen me, yet."

"Or this Regina," replied Piper. "If she's as powerful as we've been led to believe, and really wants to hold on to Henry, we're going to need every angry mom on our side we can get."

The four women spent better part of an hour pouring through the story of Snow White and Charming, looking for something that might be used to trigger her memory. They had spitballed the possibilities of everything from seeing Emma in the blanket to setting a trap net to recreate Snow's meeting with James, or locking her in a glass shower enclosure to simulate the glass coffin but to no avail. Nothing seemed likely to work and feasible, while allowing for plausible deniability should it fail. "Where are these last pages?" asked Phoebe as they got to the end of the story.

"Henry ripped them out and made me promise to keep them safely hidden from Regina. It's the part of the story where I come in…"

"Well, whatever the key is, it's gotta be in there!" declared Paige. "You're the second half to the trigger, after all. Where are they hidden?"

"Back at my apartment."

"Well, let's go meet the one and only Snow White!" said Paige.

"Without a plan?" replied Emma.

"I've been thinking. August said our magic couldn't break the curse, right? But that doesn't mean we're powerless," said Phoebe. "And obviously, our powers work within Storybrooke – we've seen it already."

"So?" asked Piper.

"So, maybe we can just use a spell. Like, the one we cast to bring back lost items. You know, like memories? Or even just a simple remembering spell? We're the most powerful witches of all time, there has to be something we can do!"

"So how does that work exactly?" asked Emma."You just wave a wand and 'poof' she's Snow White again? Or is it more like 'The Craft' and you've gotta sit around chanting for hours?"

"Uh, neither. It's more like make up a limerick and hope it works without going screwy," said Paige.

"Why am I suddenly not at all reassured by that description?" replied Emma.

"Don't worry. We always fix it," said Phoebe.

"Oh… _great,"_ said Emma, raising an eyebrow.

Piper pulled out a ten dollar bill and tossed it on to the table. "Shall we?" At this, her sister nodded and began to stand up.

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to go smoothly?" asked Emma.

"Because you're even smarter than you look?" replied Paige, patting her on the shoulder. "Just try and go with it. We're more for fly by the seat of pants kind of girls."

"Don't you mean by the seat of your broom?" rejoined Emma, slyly.

"I'm afraid we're fresh out of flying broomsticks," replied Phoebe.

"Well, lucky for you, I'm a practiced pants flyer, and don't have any better suggestions," said Emma as she made her way out of the diner, the three sisters at her heels.


	4. The Greatest Gift

**Quick Author's Note to those of you who read this earlier: S**omehow I'd lost the first half of this story during posting the first time. That's what I get posting at 5am, I guess. In any case, here it is restored.

**Chapter 4: The Greatest Gift**

The sister soon found themselves out side a charmingly weathered door to the loft Emma shared with Mary Margaret, from which, jovial humming emanated.

"I swear if she's baking an apple pie in there..." began Paige.

"Hush!" replied Phoebe.

Paige shrugged. "I'm just saying!"

Emma purposely opened the as nosily as she could, hoping to not startle Mary. The woman hadn't, after all, met stranger, who wasn't a family memeber, in 28 years, whether she was aware of it or not. Let alone coming uninvited to her home. Given how Mary had suddenly displayed hand-to-hand combat skills when she;d been under duress a few weeks ago, Emma didn't want to chance triggering some piece of Snow White buried in Mary's mind and end up with one of the sisters kicked into a wall or something.

"Hey Emma!" said Mary brightly as cut shapes out of vibrantly colored construction paper. "You're home early! Sorry, about the mess, I wasn't expecting you." She looked up and her eyes widened at the three women with her roommate. "Or... guests."

"Uh, yeah, sorry about this Mare, this was kind of an unexpected surprise," replied Emma.

"We're her friends. From out of town, obviously," said Piper.

"And we wanted to surprise our good friend Emma as we happened to be in the area," added Phoebe.

"Oh, are you from Boston?" asked Mary.

"Yes," replied Emma, as Piper simultaneously said, "No," and Phoebe blurted, "Baltimore, actually!"

Mary furrowed her brow. "So... is it Boston or Baltimore?"

The three sisters all looked at Emma expectantly. "Good question," began Emma. "I actually know them from Boston. But we met in Baltimore."

"Oh? I'll be there's a story there," replied Mary hospitably. She had so little information on Emma before she came to Storybrooke, and wanted to take any chance she had to pry a bit. The three women seemed familiar in an odd way as well. She extended her hand to the nearest woman. "Where are my manners? I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard. Emma's roommate, but I bet you already knew that!"

Piper took her hand, noting that it was ridiculously soft for a woman who, according to that storybook, seemed to live with a blade in her hand. "Piper Halliwell. And these are my sisters, Phoebe and Paige," she said, nodding at the other two women respectively.

"Nice to meet you!" replied Paige.

"It's nice to meet you," added Mary with a genuine smile.

"We've heard so much about you!" said Phoebe drawing looks from her sisters. "That is, uh, Emma can't stop raving about you. She says you're like family!"

Mary gave Phoebe a strange look, giving the witch the distinct feeling that she was under a microscope. "You look so familiar... have we met before, maybe?"

"Ever been to San Francisco?" replied Phoebe.

"Uh, nope. I can't even recall the last time I left Storybrooke," replied Mary with a chuckle. Suddenly her eyes widened and she clapped her hands together. "That's it! You're that columnist woman from California who caught that awful baseball player, with like, a webcam or something? There was that article in People magazine a couple years ago."

The five women collectively let out relieved breaths and Phoebe laughed self-consciously. "Heh, yeah, that's me!"

"You didn't tell me you were friends with someone famous, Emma!" remarked Mary.

Emma shrugged. "Well, you know, I can honestly say I don't even think of her that way."

Mary studied the other two women's faces and shook her head. The tallest of the three had a porcelain complexion much like her own, and the other, Piper, she really couldn't place as resembling anyone, yet she had the vague feeling that she should thank her for some reason. "It's the strangest thing, though. I mean, not all three of you are famous, right?" The three shook their heads. "It's probably just that you remind me of someone in my family..." she said to Paige. "I just wish I could put my finger on who..." She shrugged. "Oh, nevermind, I'm probably just having some kind of deja vu," she laughed. "You have to tell me how you met!" Mary made her way over to the kitchen and turned on the burner under a teapot. "Can I get you all anything to drink? I'm making hot chocolate for myself, but we have other things."

"No, thanks, really," replied Piper, her sisters simply shaking their heads.

"Suit yourself. So, how did you meet? I thought you said you met in Baltimore, Em?"

"We were... her foster sisters. Our mom fostered Emma, back, oh, you know, a long time ago!" answered Paige.

Mary frowned. "I thought you hated all your foster homes, Emma?"

Emma crossed her arms. "Uh, yeah, all but that one. They were great, the Halliwells. We four were very close..."

"Until our parents had to move away, for a job," added Phoebe.

"And the foster system doesn't operate across state lines, so..." said Piper.

"I had to go back in the system," finished Emma.

Mary frowned. "Oh, that's awful. But you kept in touch?" They all nodded in affirmation. "So... where does Boston come in?"

Phoebe waved her off. "Oh, college you know! Long story, really boring! Maybe later!"

Sensing the group wanted some privacy, Mary glanced back at her mess of construction paper. "Ok, well, I'll be done with this pretty soon, Emma. Sorry for the clutter," she added as an aside. "I'm a teacher, and just getting prepped for an activity tomorrow! Then I can get out of your hair."

Emma shook her head. "Take all the time you need, we'll just be in my room, getting caught up and all!"

Mary nodded and Emma made a beeline for her room, the Halliwells close on her heels. Just as Emma was about to shut the door behind her Mary popped her head into view. "Hey, if you want me to make dinner, just say so!"

Emma nodded. "Will do!" She swiftly shut the door and leaned against the interior side. "Whatever we do, we'd better do it fast. Or at least get our stories straight."

Paige nodded and suddenly declared, "Book!". The Book of Shadows, which had been safely stored in the trunk of Emma's VW bug, appeared in her hands.

"Anyone ever tell you that looks an awful lot like beaming some Star Trek transporter thingy?" asked Emma.

"Alright!" declared Piper, ignoring Emma's aside. "Do you have any pen or paper or something?"

Emma nodded at her desk. "There should be some pens in there, but I'm afraid the only paper I've got is a book of blank citations."

Piper shrugged. "It'll have to do. Phoebe, work on a spell that might, I dunno, unlock her memories, or return them or something. Paige and Emma and I will see if we can figure out a likely trigger from those last pages."

Phoebe nodded. "On it!"

Emma opened the top drawer of her dresser and pulled aside the clothes before lifting up a false bottom and pulling out the storybook pages that covered the beginning of her story.

The better part of a half hour later, Piper groaned. "Pheebs, I hope you're having better luck over there, cause we got nada over here."

"As a matter of fact, I think do!" replied Phoebe brightly. "Of course, we won't know until we try it. I'm hoping that our world's fairy magic will play a little better with storybook magic."

Piper and Paige leaned over Phoebe's shoulder to check over the spell. Piper shrugged. "Well, it'll have to do. We're running short on options."

"Not the most ringing endorsement I've ever heard," replied Emma.

Piper shrugged. "Would you have preferred a hearty 'that'll do, pig'?"

"Piper..." replied Paige.

"Hey, have we just met, sis? Cause last I know I wasn't the one known for brimming over with optimism."

Paige cocked her head. "Oh. Right. You're the surly one. Hey, maybe when we wake Snow White up she introduce you to Grumpy, hm?" shot back Paige with a sarcastic smile.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "All, right, back to your corners Jib and Jab. We've got work to do."

"Uh, if this backfires, you won't like, turn us all into frogs or something, right?" asked Emma.

"See? Stop making the magical newbie nervous," Paige scolded Piper, to which Piper simply sighed and rolled her sardonically.

"Don't worry. The worst that happen is probably nothing," said Phoebe.

"Probably?" asked Emma.

"Most likely," added Paige. At Emma widened eyes Paige put a hand on the blonde's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, 'it'll do' is actually high praise coming from Piper."

Phoebe was at the door, pressing her ear against the plank of wood. "I think she's still here..."

Emma nodded. "She wouldn't have left without mentioning it. She's a natural maternal type like that. So, do you light candles or chant or something here?"

Phoebe shook her head. "I'm afraid that usually kind of more a Hollywood thing than real." Piper and Paige joined joined her at the door and read the newly concocted spell aloud.

_In this home and in this hour_

_We call upon the fairy's power_

_Return the pieces that have been __suppressed_

_From the mind of this princess_

"Did it work?" asked Emma.

"Only one way to find out," replied Phoebe. She opened the door slowly, which only succeeded in drawing out the creak in its hinges. The four women quietly took a couple of steps out, trying to get a look at Mary Margaret.

The raven-haired woman sat stock still in the same chair she'd been working at earlier, her mug poised milimeters from her lips, with a look sugesting she wasn't seeing the room around her at all. Whatever she was seeing in her mind's eye was causing her face to flit almost imperceptibly between sorrow, awe, anger, and joy. Emma leaned down, trying to catch Mary's eye. "Snow?" she whispered.

Suddenly Mary let out a high pitched yelp and jumped in her seat, sending her mug's chocolaty liquid into the air in every direction, and the other four women practically jumping out of their skins at the surprise. "Emma!" she clutched at her chest, over her heart. "Dear lord, you startled me! Don't do that!" She took a deep breath, setting her now nearly empty mug down. "I'm sorry. I was just daydreaming..."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Musta' been one hell of a dream."

Mary smiled, now mostly calmed down. "Oh, I don't know. It's the strangest thing. I've been having this recurring dream recently. It's so... real. But I can never hold on to it. Like the moment I wake up it's covered in this thick mental fog..."

"Maybe it's trying to tell you something?" suggested Phoebe.

Mary shrugged. "If it is, I haven't a clue what. It's strange. I never thought anything like a dream could feel so joyous and so crushingly sad at the same time... It's so intense but I can never remember why. Just that David and Regina are there... but they're not themselves. Not exactly. And... Emma. But she's the only one who is herself. Even I'm not me..." She shook her head and stood up.

"Thank you," replied Mary. She looked up as she began to blot herself. "Oh, uh, what was it you had started to say, Emma?"

Emma placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, uh, I just said... 'so'. I was going to say 'So, we were thinking of just getting some take out tonight'. Would you like to join us?"

Mary considered this for a moment. It was strange. One moment they seemed to want to be alone, the next she's invited to a girl's night in. "Sure, why not!" She cringed, suddenly, finally noticing the mess of warm liquid all down her blouse and on the table. "Oh, my! Look at the mess I've made of myself! I hope it doesn't stain. I just bought this top..."

Phoebe handed a couple of paper towels to Mary. "Here you go. A little club soda should take that right out if it looks like it's going to stain." As Mary took hold of the towels she gasped suddenly, her right hand flying to her temple. And just a moment later it passed. She relaxed her shoulders and shot her sisters a meaningful look,

"Are you okay?" asked Mary.

Phoebe shook her head and began to rub one of her temples again, giving Mary a thoroughly practiced smile of embarrassment. "Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. I just get these migraine attacks. They're really sudden onset."

"I think I have some Excedrin in my purse, is you'd like some," offered Mary.

Phoebe shook her head. "Oh, don't worry, I should be fine."

Mary Margaret began to dig in her purse anyway, but quickly frowned. "Oh, but I gave the last of it to Ruby on Sunday... I can make a quick run down to the store and pick some up if you like."

Paige waved the offer off. "Don't worry about Pheebs, she-"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble?" interrupted Phoebe, elbowing Paige in the ribs as discreetly as possible.

"None at all! I need to get some more anyway. And I think a walk to clear my head might do me some good... Besides. I can pick up a pizza for everyone while I'm out..."

"Oh, you're a princess! Just like Emma described you!" exclaimed Phoebe, her smile a little too big.

Mary pulled on one of her signature light sweaters and gave Phoebe a smile. "I don't think it's usually princesses running errands for people, but the other way around," she remarked with a laugh. "But you're welcome, just the same. I'll be back in a jif!"

"My hero, then!" added Phoebe as Mary closed the door behind her.

"What was that about?" asked Emma when she could no longer hear footsteps. "And why did you send her out?"

"Yeah, Pheebs," said Paige, rubbing her ribs. "And when did your elbows get so pointy?"

"Look, the spell clearly didn't work. But, I get visions – psychic flashes of the future, or the past," replied Phoebe to Emma.

"So what did you see?" asked Piper.

"That dream she was talking about, I think. I don't think it was a dream."

"Well, it couldn't be a memory if I was talking to her in it," said Emma.

"Don't be so sure. I saw her, sitting on the ground in some kind of…. I dunno. A nursery maybe? There was a big wooden closet that looked for like a tree…"

"The wardrobe," said Paige.

Phoebe nodded. "I think so. Anyway, she was cradling a blonde man covered in blood in her arms. And you were there, Emma. You and Piper. And… you collected something. With a little glass vial."

"Collected what? And how is that possible?" exclaimed Emma.

Phoebe shook her head. "I could quite tell. But it's something Mary, or Snow White I guess, gives you. Maybe the key to unlocking her memories?"

"But that scene is in the book. And there's no mention of any visit from us!" said Emma.

"Right. There wouldn't be, would there? It hasn't happened yet, on our end," replied Paige.

"But how is Mary dreaming about it?" asked Emma.

"Because it's already the past for her."

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes in frustration. "I think I'll be needing that Excedrin after all!" groaned Emma.

"It's better if you just go with and not make any logical sense out of it," advised Piper. "You'll save yourself a lot of headaches."

"Ok, so… how do we get there?" asked Emma with a sigh.

"That's why I sent Mary out," replied Phoebe. "We can do it right now, and you can be back right after you've left."

"How is that? Never mind. Just going with it," rambled Emma.

"I know just the spell," added Paige.

"This one will actually work, right?" asked Emma, clearly skeptical after the failure to bring back Mary's memories.

Paige nodded. "No reason it shouldn't. We won't be trying to break the curse."

"So what do you have in mind?" asked Piper.

"Well, you got to the Keeper of fairy tales using your old storybook as a portal, right?" asked Paige. Piper nodded. "Same idea. We just use Henry's storybook, and those pages." She stepped back into the bedroom to retrieve the page detailing the moments just before the curse went into effect. A beautiful illustration of Snow White cradling her prince was the centerpiece to the text. "Lucky for us, I once subbed a class in basic portal creation! We simply add a little family magic here…" She took a pen and sketched a triquetra over the drawing. "And voila!"

"You defaced my son's book, and that's a' voila'?" said Emma.

"Hey, the kid already ripped the pages, out!" remarked Paige. "Somehow I doubt drawing some mystical symbols over it is really gonna bum him out."

"But only fairy tale characters should be able to access that as a portal, Paige," said Piper.

"And just do you think Emma is?" replied Paige.

"Can we not call me a 'character'?" replied Emma.

"But she hasn't activated it before," said Piper. "Unless you've been sucked into that book and not told us already." Emma shook her head in the negative.

"Right," replied Paige. "But she didn't believe before!" She pointed a finger in the air in a decidedly 'eureka-esque' manner. "And if I'm correct, you probably have to know what to do. And Piper has used one of these portal before, so she should be able to tap into Emma's connection to the world – and take her where she needs to go."

"But it took me to the Keepers, not the fairy tale realm."

"Because that's where Red's cape last was, right? Well, this portal should naturally take you to the last time and place that Emma was!"

"Right… I'm getting the place jist of all this, but you're telling me it's gonna take back in time, too?" asked Emma. "How do we know it's not gonna take us back to, like before she was even pregnant with me?"

"That what the triquetra is for. We've seen it used as a portal before. And it's our family symbol. Take the two and what do you have?"

"The facts of life?" replied Piper flippantly.

"Very funny," replied Paige, hands on her hips. "You have a functional portal, that you can reopen from the other side to return as well! Look, we'd better get this dog and pony show on the road if you're gonna beat Mary back from the market."

"Alright, alright!" grumbled Piper. She turned to Emma. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Which isn't saying much," said Emma with a shrug.

Paige opened the Book of Shadows and spun it around, placing the illustrated page from Henry's storybook on to it. "We'll need your blanket as well. It will be Piper's ticket into the portal." Emma quickly retrieved her baby blanket and handed it to Piper.

"Ok, so how does this work?" asked Emma.

"You two join hands, and read this spell aloud," said Paige, pointing to an entry in the book entitled 'To Find Your Way'. "Then, touch the storybook picture, seeing that destination in your mind's eye. It's the best way to ensure you land where you're intended to. If you feel yourself being pulled from Piper, it means you're not going to the same destination. In that case, clear your mind and hold on; go with her, because I don't know how you're getting back if we lose you."

"Fabulous," said Emma.

"You'll be fine," reassured Phoebe.

"Alright. Let's hit it," said Piper. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, clasping it closed with one hand, and taking Emma's firmly in the other. The pair exchanged a look and nodded.

_Hear these words,_

_Hear the rhyme, _

_Heed the hope within my mind,_

_Send me back to where I'll find,_

_What I wish in space and time._

With that, the triquetra began to glow. Emma took a deep breath and put her free hand on the page. Just as she thought nothing would happen she and Piper were sucked into the page. If she'd had to describe it, Emma would have said it reminded her of riding one of those Gravitron machines you find a county fairs, but in reverse. She felt pulled, dizzy, and everywhere and nowhere all at once, and tried to focus on where she wanted to go. She was vaguely aware of the other women with her, providing a reference point in the nothing-everythingness Emma found herself floating in. And then just as abruptly as it began, it stopped. The ground was solid under her feet and she realized her eyes were squeezed shut. She pried them open. "How do you get used to that?" exclaimed Emma to Piper.

Piper smirked. "I don't know. You just do…. And don't. If that makes any sense?"

"About as much as anything I've seen today."

"Ha! That's the spirit!" replied Piper. "Not exactly what I pictured Snow White's castle to be like...

Well, which way?"

It was then that Emma really noticed their surroundings. It looked like, as unbelievable as it still was to her, inside a stone hallway, very much like the room in the illustration. The sound of clanking swords and running boots echoed off the walls, and the acrid smell of smoke filled her nostrils. A raging fire outside gave the hall a hellish, unearthly glow. Emma shrugged. "Beats me."

Suddenly they could hear a woman's voice crying out, somewhere further down the hall. The pair exchanged a glance and a shrug before making their way toward the desperate voice. The slowed down as they reached the end of the corridor, and peeked around the corner into the room. There, to Emma's shock, was Mary Margaret, with long locks of raven hair cascading around face as much as it stuck to her sweaty brow, as she huddled over David, whose billowy white linen shirt was soaked a brilliant red; a sure sign of a fresh wound. She held his face in her hands, searching for signs of life. "Please, come back to me!" she pleaded. She kissed him desperately, but he didn't awaken.

Piper blinked back tears, suddenly struck by an intense feeling of déjà-vu. Before her was every moment she'd lost or almost lost a loved one to evil. Weeping over Prue's fresh corpse as it dangled limply in her arms – merely an empty husk that had been the most vibrant person shed ever known just minutes before. Her sister Phoebe, the same, when the house had been blown to bits in an epic battle. Telling Leo she loved him for the first time, and that love healing him. But Snow's prince wasn't waking up.

Emma swallowed. It was real. All of it. Not just magic. Not just fairy tales. And these weren't the fanciful stories of dragons and princesses she'd grown up hearing. This was too terribly brutally real. It was a world she believed could exist. The sound of heeled shoes entering from another entryway suddenly appeared and Emma found herself snapped out of her reverie by the icily dulcet voice of a woman she realized she despised like she had no other in her life.

"Oh, don't worry dear. In a few moments you won't remember you knew him… let alone loved him." A vampiric version of Regina strode into view, a sinister smile on her lips.

James' head lolled back in the crook of Snow's arm as she look up, a fire in her eye unlike anything Emma had seen in Mary Margaret. "Why did you do this?"

Regina shot her face down and forward, her dramatically hooded outfit and movement giving her the impression of a striking snake. "Because this is _my _happy ending!" she spat. She rose back to her full height as two black knights approached. "The child?" she asked.

"Gone," replied the first. "It was in the wardrobe, and then it was gone. It's nowhere to be found."

Regina whipped her head back to Snow, seething. "Where is she?"

Emma couldn't stand by any longer and darted forward. Piper's reflexes, were luckily, quicker than Emma's feet and she instantly froze the room. "Back off, bitch!" spat Emma, only to immediately be confused by Regina remaining completely motionless. "What happened?"

"I froze her. It's one of my little special abilities," replied Piper, joining Emma in the room proper.

"Who the hell are you people?" Snow White exclaimed. She was in a defensive posture, as much as one could be on the ground, James' dagger in her hand.

Piper threw up her hands in supplication. "Relax… we're on your side."

"You can trust us," added Emma.

Snow narrowed her eyes. "And why should I believe that?"

Piper put her arms akimbo and raised an eyebrow. "It 's a sad day when a mother can't trust her own daughter," she replied and nodded her head at Emma.

Snow's eyes widened at this, but she didn't lower the dagger. A strange mix of suspicion and hope danced in her eyes. "And how am I to know this isn't trick?"

Emma met the woman's eyes. "You're the only person to ever believe in me. You've done it before, when you had reason to whatsoever, and gave me a home. You just did it, trusting that infant you just sent through that wardrobe would find you one day. Trust what your heart tells you."

She lowered the dagger slightly, but shook her head."But I've never heard of such magic. Such a thing just isn't possible!" cried Snow. "Not even by Rumpelstiltskin!"

"Well, now we know where you get your skepticism from," remarked Piper.

Emma took the blanket draped over in the crook of Piper's elbow and tossed it to Snow. She eyed it for a moment before looking back at the two strange women. "Keep your hands up and out," she demanded. "No fairy business!" The two nodded and she lowered her weapon and picked up the blanket to examine it.

"Where else could I have gotten that?" said Emma.

Snow turned the blanket over in her hands. It was an exact copy for the blanket she'd knitted Emma, except that it showed all the signs of being much older than the one she had finished mere days ago. The white was dingy, and the other color faded. The fabric had begun to pill in some places. But it was plain as day, it was the same. She looked back up at the blonde woman. "Emma?"

Emma nodded slowly, not sure what to say. "My baby girl Emma?"

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat. This was the last way she ever expected to meet her birth mother, but it somehow was easier still to believe this woman was her mother than Mary Margaret, even with the closeness in age. "In the flesh," she replied finally, and couldn't hold off the quiver of her chin.

The exact quiver that Mary had seen on the face of her infant daughter in the few minutes she'd had with her. On the chin that so resembled her own. Suddenly, she could see James in her face, an almost perfect blend of both their faces, really. She gently pulled herself out from under James' weight, laying him softly on the floor before leaping to her feet. She quickly crossed the distance between them, her nightgown billowing around her, and wrapped her arms around this woman, her daughter. "And I was right to have faith in you!" She stepped back, but kept her hands on Emma's arms. "My little miracle, who's already taller than I am! I guess they're right when they say they grow up too fast!" she added with a chuckle, wiping tears from her eyes. "You are so your father's daughter…"

"I suppose so," replied Emma, quietly stealing a glance at James' dying form.

"But how?" exclaimed Snow.

"That would be me," replied Piper. "Just think of me as a powerful witch from the world that you're about to be exiled into."

Snow nodded. "It makes me happy to know you have such powerful friends there, to help you. Are you here to defeat the Queen? We could end this all now, before the curse is even cast!"

"I'm afraid not," replied Emma. "I wish I could, really I do."

"Then why don't you?" she asked. "At least save your father!"

Emma shook her head. "I can't. Not without destroying my future."

"A future filled with 28 years away from your family!" pleaded Snow.

Emma sighed. "If I do that, then I'll erase my son."

"I'm… I'm a grandmother?" cried Snow.

Emma nodded. "And he loves you very much."

Snow stared at the prone form of her true love, then back at the woman born of that love. "I understand. But why are you here then?"

"The cursed has trapped everyone in your realm in a prison built of fake memories. No one knows who they truly are. To break the curse, I'm going to have to wake them up."

"And I don't know who you are…" Snow concluded quietly.

"Right. But were trying to fix that," replied Emma. "We need something to jog your memory. Something directly tied to our bond."

"I take it the blanket didn't work," said Snow. Emma shook her head. "I don't know… I only had a precious few moments with you before your father sacrificed his life to get you safely away… I'm so sorry, honey. I've failed you twice…"

Emma took Snow's hands firmly in hers and locked eyes with her. "Listen to me. You didn't fail me. You saved me. We'll figure this out. And don't worry, Dav-er, James will be just fine." Again, her chin quivered and puckered with emotion.

Suddenly, the lightness returned to Snow's face. "That's it!"

"Huh?"

"I know what the trigger is. What it must be! True love is the greatest magic of all. More powerful than any other," explained Snow.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "So, you want me to bottle pure love. How am I supposed to do that?"

"Not all love is romantic, or even feels good," said Snow. "And though I love you with all my heart, the love we shared was one of heartbreak. You need to cry, Emma!"

"To bottle the tears?" asked Piper.

Snow nodded and darted to a shelf. She pushed knick knacks aside until she found what she was looking for; a small glass vials, shaped like a swan. She popped off the cork stopper and wicked away a single tear with a fingernail, carefully pouring it into the vial. "This holds blessed water said to be able to return something lost to you. It should have gone through the wardrobe with you… but take it with you when you leave. With my tear it is almost complete. You must cry and add your own."

Emma shook her head. "I can't. I haven't in years."

Snow smirked knowingly. "I just saw you bawling your eyes out not 20 minutes ago. I assure you, you can. It's all I know of my little baby girl. Tears are our bond."

"Need I remind you I was an infant? I've been through too much. I can get mad, I can get sad, but I can't cry."

Snow lightly rubbed her hand up Emma's arm. "Someone once told me that 'happy is the heart that still feels pain'. Please don't tell me Regina has taken away my daughter's very happiness…"

Emma looked down and away. She wished she could cry, to get that catharsis. But she doesn't know how any more and the guilt that her hardened heart may have damned them all tore her apart inside. She felt Snow's hand and her chin and let her gently lift her head back up to look her in the eye. Snow wiped her thumb across Emma's cheek and smiled warmly at her. "I knew you could do it," she stated before awkwardly moving her thumb over the vial. A single clear drop trickled off her thumbnail and into the vial. It was only then that Emma realized her eyelashes were wet with tears. "I'm so sorry you've had to endure such pain, Emma. But I'm _so_ proud of you."

She smiled and help up the vial, pushing the cork back in. "This is an elixir made from the bond we shared the moment you came into the world. Make me drink it and we'll take down the Queen as a family. As we always were destined to."

Emma nodded. "I will. I promise."

"One more thing, Emma," said Snow.

"Yeah?"

"Do they have hot chocolate in this other realm?"

Emma chuckled. "They do. Why?"

"Give it to me in that," she suggested with a smile.

"I promise."

"I hate to interrupt, but I don't know how much longer my freeze is going to last," said Piper. "You should get back to where you were when I froze her."

Snow nodded and gave Emma one last hug and a peck on the cheek. "Don't ever lose hope."

"I won't," replied Emma. "Never again."

Snow settled James back onto her lap as she sat down and Emma heart stung. Here was a man whom she didn't wholly trust, but he nearly given his life for her. It was hard to reconcile David and James, but perhaps when he regained his memories his true character would shine through. She certainly hoped so. "I'm so sorry I can't end this here and now."

"Don't be silly. You've already given me a greater gift than I could have ever dreamed possible," replied Snow.

"I haven't given you anything…" said Emma in confusion.

"Of course you have. I can go into the curse knowing James will be fine. My baby girl will not only be safe, but become an amazing woman who _will _find us. And whatever false memories I end up carrying around, I'll know all that in my heart of hearts. 28 years will be nothing with that in my heart. Now take this," she said and tossed the baby blacnket, and then James' dagger expertly to Emma.

"What's this for?" asked Emma.

"To wake James. Now fly, before you get caught! I'll know its significance." Emma nodded."I love you, Emma."

"I love you too," replied Emma, amazed at how true it was for this woman she'd know just a few months, or minutes, depending on how you thought about it. "Good luck!" She and Piper retreated into the hallway. Soon they were back where they'd arrived.

"You okay?" asked Piper, gently.

Emma nodded. "Let's get out of here…"

Piper nodded and took Emma's hand. Same spell as before. The pair recited the same spell they'd used to get here, this time reopening the portal they'd arrive through.

The moment the portal closed, Regina and the guards came back to life. "Where is she?" snarled Regina.

Snow could help but smile, nearly laughing in sudden joyful awe at the gift she'd just been given. "She got away!" _'And she thrived,'_ Snow thought to herself. The whole incident already seemed like a dream, but she knew it wasn't so. There was something wrong about this sudden reversal of demeanor, Regina realized, but couldn't imagine what it possible could be. She was just so damned certain. "You're going to lose!" continued Snow. "I know that now. Good will always win," she added, gazing at James as if she could see her baby in his face.

Regina shrugged it off as desperate naiveté, though if she'd been honest with herself, she knew Snow hadn't been that naïve little girl for quite some time. "We'll see about that!" It didn't matter, though. The curse was already on its way here. She began to laugh.

As the roof of Emma's nursery cracked and shattered, and the wind picked up, Snow couldn't help but be frightened, nonetheless. "Where are we going?"

The wind whipped harder and harder, and the Queen simply gloated. "Someplace horrible… Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine."

'_I'll see you in 28 years Emma,'_ thought Snow White and she closed her eyes tight and braced herself against the gale force winds. _'And we'll fix this together.'_


	5. Awakenings

**Author's Note: **I mention a piece of music by Schubert called "The Erlking" or "Die Erlkonig". You've probably heard it in a Warner Bros cartoon at some point in your life, but if you want to check it out, and get the full feel of the scene, remove the spaces from the following URL and check it the English version.

www .youtube watch?v=vk_r-K1hmyc

I think it would make a wonderful song to play under Regina's most vile moments. It's from a German poem based on European folk lore about evil elven spirits that hunt people in their forest. The actual poem also makes an awesome simile of Emma/Henry/Regina story arc in the first season. Anyway, on with the show.

**Chapter 5: Awakenings**

The sound of violins dancing lyrically with coronets echoed through the austere white halls of the Mayor's mansion, but rather than bring warmth and life to the house, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2 simply made it feel that much more like a museum than a home. But it had been a dinner time ritual for as long as Henry could remember. It was only in the past year that he'd gotten old enough to realize that it was yet another attempt by his mother to create the façade of the warm hearth and home she'd never experienced growing up. He didn't wish her any harm even on his worst days; just the curse lifted. But he was afraid that she would leave the people of Storybrooke no choice. After all, the true heroes never killed their nemesis – the evil doer brought karmic justice from a higher power on to themselves. In his softer moments, Henry really did pity his adoptive mom and all the terrible things that had happened to make her who she was.

Today was not one of those days.

He absently stabbed at his asparagus, play acting his day dream of a battle between King Triton and the green tentacles of a kraken in a particularly lazy fashion. He rested his head in his left hand.

Regina narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't sulk. You're only ten, Henry. You can choose how you spend your time soon enough – when you're 18. Now each your vegetables."

Henry sighed, but did as he was told. "Can't we at least have some other music? I think I've heard Bach a million times."

Regina considered this for a moment. "Alright. I guess that's fair enough. What would you like me to play?"

Henry perked up immediately. "Emma played this-"

"Something classical," Regina snapped, immediately shutting down any Emma talk. "Classical is for your mind like vegetables are for your body." The boy's head had gone back to resting in the palm of his hand. "At least I let you put your elbows on the table. That's more than my mother ever let me get away with." This at least got him to glance up. Regina smiled, seeing that her latest tactic seemed to have worked. If she couldn't get him to forget the fairy tales, she would drop hints about that world; not so many breadcrumbs as to confirm his suspicions, but just enough to keep him talking to her and thinking he was the one milking information from her. A small voice from somewhere deep inside her shouted against using her son for her own means, but after nearly half a century of suppression it was a mere whisper, even at its loudest.

Henry couldn't help looking up at the tidbit of information his mother had just dropped, but then he saw her smile. He could swear she had the same expression on her face that the stray black and white cat had when peering into the mansion's koi pond. Whatever it meant, whatever she was thinking, he wasn't going to play along.

Regina tilted her head to one side. "C'mon, Henry. You can pick any classical music you like." She held up the mansion's universal home remote and waggled it enticingly.

Henry thought for a moment. "Um.. 'Peter and the Wolf'?"

Regina clenched her jaw. It was one thing to use Henry's obsession with fairy tales to her advantage, but she wasn't about to help him add more stories to his repertoire. "Honey. 'Peter and the Wolf' is for small children; you won't get any of the benefits of classical composition that I wasn't you to from such simple music. You're simply too old to be listening to that. How about Schubert's 'Erlking'? It has everything you like – a boy and his dad having an adventure, a spooky forest, magic…"

Henry furrowed his brow at this. "Isn't that the one that ends with the demon elf queen killing the dad and his son and evil winning?"

"She didn't win - only the boy died!" snapped Regina a bit too quickly. She looked down, concentrating on slicing a bite-sized piece of chicken from her plate. "And he's a king, not a queen. Well, that just proves that you haven't been keeping up with your music studies. 'Erlking' it is," she announced before typing in her selection.

A sinister sounding piano, playing high-pitched staccato notes, accompanied by violins mimicking the same sound, now filled the dining room. Another piano soon joined this, playing low syncopated triplets in imitation of a horse's galloping hooves. Henry shook his head in an almost imperceptible movement as he wondered how someone who had managed to trap an entire kingdom in another realm could be so incapable of realizing how she came off, sometimes.

Just as a voice rose above the symphony of piano and strings they were suddenly in silence – and darkness. The power had gone out, leaving their only lighting the flicker of candlelight from the dining room table. Regina sighed, exasperated. "Honestly, how on earth does that damned power company demand so much money, but can't keep a simple electrical grid online?" she muttered. "I'll just have to show them when happens when someone makes me mad." She placed her hands on the table edge in a motion to stand up.

"Mad? I'll show you mad," replied a man's voice from the darkness. Suddenly, a leather gloved hand reached out of the darkness from behind Henry, clapped itself over his mouth, and pulled him swiftly back into the darkness.

Regina slammed her fists on the table, sending a tea plate flying into the void. "If you give him back right this instant, I'll forget this ever happened," she snarled. She was met with nothing but the scuffling of sneakers on a hardwood floor. Regina shook her head. "Very well. Have it your way."She blew out the candles, eliminating the intruder's advantage, and reached for her mansion's custom universal remote.

Paige and Phoebe stepped away from the book as the pages began to flutter, as if the book were caught up in some kind of windstorm. Piper and Emma had only disappeared about 5 minutes before. A bright light emanated from the storybook illustration, soon resolving itself into a beam. And like that, Emma and Piper were back.

"Did it work?" asked Phoebe.

Piper nodded. "Mission accomplished."

Emma held up a swan-shaped glass vial which held a purplish-blue liquid. "One dose and she should remember everything," added Emma.

"How long were we gone?" asked Piper.

"Only a few minutes," replied Paige. "So we should have plenty of time to figure out our gameplan."

Emma nodded. "Good. Because suddenly all this… if I hadn't promised her, I might just take the easy way out and kick Regina's evil ass!"

"Uh, oh," said Paige. "I think the whole scope of everything just caught up with our savior here…"

"Don't call me that!" Emma snapped. She took a steadying breath. "Look, I told you it was coming. And now, it's here." She looked a little wild-eyed as her pupils darted back and forth. "Well, some of it anyway. I don't know how I'm supposed to do all this… how am I supposed to handle this?"

Though Emma was quite still, and her voice calm, Phoebe felt as if she'd been caught by surprise in a raging river of Emma's doubts and fears. They swirled and crashed against the metaphorical bars of the mental barrier she'd learned to create in her mind to separate her feelings from the emotion of those around her. She put her hands on Emma's shoulders, forcing the blonde to face her. "You believe in yourself, like your parents did. You're not alone in this, Emma. You have three very powerful witches, who know a thing or two about saving the world, by your side. And in a few minutes you're going to have your mother."

"I may have only met her for a few minutes, Emma, but she's clearly pistol," said Piper. "And an honorable, steadfast protector of her family. Which is you. Besides, you heard her yourself; she's already proud of you."

Emma frowned. "Yeah. That one did. The one who doesn't know me and whose only bond with me is the time she spent mourning for me. But what happens when we wake Mary up?" Emma shook her head.

"She'll still love you and be proud of you," replied Paige.

"You don't understand," replied Emma. "I'm no hero. I have a such a checkered past, you could use my rap sheet as a picnic blanket! And the way I've treated David…The only good thing I've contributed to this world has been Henry. Snow didn't know that. But Mary did. I feel like I'm about to step into the belly of the beast." Her face had taken on a slightly ruddy complexion as her emotions ran high.

"She'll still love you," replied Piper resolutely.

"I was a complete juvenile delinquent when my parents died," said Paige." And I spent every day after believing that they'd never know that deep down I wasn't that bad egg they raised as their own. That I'd turned it all around. Just like you have – well, unless you're a crooked Sheriff." Emma cracked a fleeting smile at this. "But thanks to magic, I got to see them again, and even if I'd known they were watching over me, I never would have believed that they knew the good person that I was inside even when I came home wasted for the tenth time… and now, magic is giving you at chance too."

"I was once on Mary's side of very similar situation. I met my grown son, from the future – don't ask – and didn't know who he was for a long time. There were times that I wanted to kill him, and I actually did kick him out of my life for a while. But when I found out he was my son, it suddenly didn't matter anymore. Because he was family, and I knew that whatever made him who he was, was part of me. The kind of mother I had been to him. That only became more true when I found out I hadn't been there for half his life." She sighed. "And if you still can't believe that she'll love you for everything you are, the good and the not so good, then trust your heart," added Piper. "Think about it. Is there anything Henry could do to make you love him any less?"

Emma sighed, "No. Of course not. But…"

"Just trust that, Emma. The woman I saw on that castle floor clearly loves you more than life itself," said Piper. The sound of someone approaching the apartment door closed off any further discussion . Paige quickly orbed the Book of Shadows back into Emma's room as Piper made a beeline for the stove with Emma. Piper tilted her head, and her face was softer than Emma would have expected. "You heard Snow. It has to come from you," said Piper. She picked up the teapot and lifted the lid. "You can do this. I promise."

Finally, Emma nodded resolutely, quickly uncorked the vial, and poured its contents into the cast-iron teapot, which was still at least half full with warm water. "God help me, I hope you're right."

The Charmed Ones scrambled to settle on the couch and look natural as Emma flipped the stove's burner on. It was not a moment too soon and the door swung open to reveal Mary, her hands a bit full carrying a couple generic pizza boxes and a plastic bag from the drug store. "Hey, you might want to check your phone Emma. I called to see what kind of toppings you all would like, but I got the strangest error message that stated you were outside the country." Phoebe hid her smile behind her hand.

"Oh, uh… yeah. I'll have to check on that."

After she'd placed the pizza boxes on the coffee table she popped open her new bottle of Excedrin and poured out a couple little white tablets and made her way over to her antique tea kettle. "So, I just got one pepperoni and one cheese. I hope that's okay for everybody!" The women nodded, oddly silent, once again giving Mary the distinct impression she was interrupting something. As she ladled a scoop of cocoa mix into a quirky little blue mug that resembled a bird, she shot a devious smirk at the women. "You were talking about me, were you?"

Paige gave a strangely staccato laugh that almost ended as a groan, which earned her a slap on the arm from Piper. "Don't mind her."

"Right. It's a, uh, blood sugar thing…" added Phoebe.

Mary laughed politely as she poured the steaming water from her kettle, into her mug and began to stir. "Riiight. All good I hope?" She crossed the room, to the couch.

Emma smirked in a way that she hoped looked jovial and nonchalant. "Just talking about how you seem to like to mother everyone," she teased.

"What can I say? It comes with being a teacher," replied Mary, but then returned a mirror version of Emma's expression. "Speaking of which – you look a little flushed, Em. You haven't been eating tuff with MSG in it again, have you?"

Emma was snapped back to self-consciousness at this observation. "You know… I don't know. It's possible."

Mary shook her head in playful frustration before presenting the headache relief pills to Phoebe. "Here you go."

"Huh?" said Phoebe. "Oh! Yeah, right. Thanks."

"You can wash it down with this," she said, offering the now potion-laced hot chocolate.

"Uh, no, I'm not really a fan of hot chocolate…" replied Phoebe. It was a bald-faced lie, of course.

"Have you tried it with cinnamon?" asked Mary.

"I'm allergic," added Phoebe quickly. "I'll just get myself some water." She got up and went to the kitchen. "But you go ahead and drink. No reason it should go to waste!"

Mary shrugged. "If you insist. What an awful allergy to have! Of course, it probably makes avoiding sweets easier, huh?"

"Ooh, yeah. Definitely,'' replied Phoebe, scratching the top of her nose in a manner only recognizably a red flag if lying for Phoebe.

Mary nodded politely, though, and absently sipped the potion-laced concoction. "This tastes a little funny," she remarked, making a face. "I hope my kettle isn't –" She abruptly fell silent and her expression went blank. It wasn't unlike when she'd been daydreaming earlier, except that a sudden realization seemed to be building in her.

The sisters and Emma, for their part were holding their breath eyes locked on Mary. "Do you think it's working?" asked Phoebe quietly.

Suddenly, Mary drew in a violent gasp, made to seem all the louder by the silent room. Her gaze, focusing on nothing, travelled down slowly, as if she were suddenly underwater, landing on the mug of hot chocolate in her hands. "Oh, it worked…" she answered in a daze, her lips left slightly parted as she forgotten to completely close her mouth. She blinked a few times before her head snapped up and she began to crane her neck around, scanning the room, only stopping when her eyes came to rest on Emma, who stood next to the coffee table, arms folded nervously. "It worked!" she exclaimed again, this time her voice filled with warm, joyous revelation, putting down her mug and jumping to her feet in one fluid motion. She spun around to face her long lost, and forgotten, daughter, her hands cupped over her mouth as if she were miming a surgical mask. She simply took her in, her brow furrowed as she blinked back tears. She took slow, heavy breaths and she shook her head. "Oh, God," she said quietly, muffled further by the hands over her mouth. "How could I have forgotten? Emma…" she shook her head again and swallowed hard, trying to calm herself.

Emma nodded silently in response, unconsciously clasping and unclasping her hands, where they hung at her waist. "It's okay…" She licked her lips and gave Mary a sad smile. "It's okay if you're disappointed, now that you know me. About… you know, my past and everything. I'll understand. You don't have to…"

Snow took an impulsive stride forward but then stopped herself short as she cried out. "Oh, God, Emma! No! I could never - how could you think such a thing?" Snow's hands dropped to mid air and her eyes darted back and forth, scanning every detail of Emma's face. She took another step toward her daughter, a journey across a distance that seemed massive, despite being so only halfway across their small living room.

Emma folded her arms across her stomach, hugging herself, and shrugged one shoulder. "You just seemed a little… you know, you're kind of a hugger. And you were hiding your expression behind your hands, so I just assumed… I don't know." Her chin quivered involuntarily for a moment and her lips pursed into a frown.

Snow took another couple steps forward, putting herself into reaching distance of her daughter now, and a determined look steeled her face. "Don't you ever think that," she said resolutely. "Never."

Emma tilted her head, a sad smile on her face. "Yes, Ma'am."

Snow raised her arms, but only leaned an incremental distance forward before stopping. She and Emma's usual supportive gesture was to simply cradle the other's fingers in their hands. "Is it okay if I...?" Emma simply nodded, as she no longer trusted a voice box that felt like it was caught in a vice. She was truly fighting the tears now, as warmth swelled in her chest and seemed to fill an empty hole in her heart.

Snow wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her closer before resting the side of her head against Emma's cheek. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable," she explained softly into Emma's ear and then rested her chin on her daughter's shoulder. "My precious starling…" she whispered to no one in particular, simply relishing the pet name she'd only gotten to use once before. They may not have known each other relatively long, but it was the little kindnesses to her quirks, something simple as asking permission before invading her personal space that amazed Emma about this woman. Somehow, she always knew the right thing to say. Finally, without thinking about it, Emma unfolded the arms she still had wrapped around her abdomen and returned Snow's hug with her own fiery embrace. Even when neither knew it, the family bond had been there. A mother and daughter were truly reunited, no matter the bizarre circumstances.

Normally, Emma wasn't much of a hugger. She preferred to show her affections through deeds, rather than verbal declarations, cutesy nicknames, and sentimental displays of affection. It wasn't that she disliked it, of course, but the intimacy and vulnerability of those things… she'd learned a long time ago that few people could be trusted with her heart. Until Henry and Mary had come along, fostering a trusting relationship with another person took a long time, if it ever developed at all. Graham, for instance, had just begun to open those gates before he died, despite being a safe, lone wolf like herself. Henry had been easy. He was her child. But then there had been Mary Margaret. A woman whom Emma had _believed_ she could trust with anything, even prior to finding out Mary was her mother. Now, she _knew_ she could trust this woman with anything.

Neither knew how long they'd stood there when mother and daughter finally ended their embrace, pulling back into their more familiar posture of holding the other's hand. Snow studied Emma's face and shook her head. "This is all so strange…. I've lived a second lifetime, just as long as my real one, but it's as hazy as a dream upon waking," said Snow softly. "I have this whole other set of memories in my head, but they're full of holes. But my real life, 28 years ago… meeting you in what was to be your nursery… it's all so clear. Like it just happened yesterday, and this… this world is the dream." She cocked her head to one side and gave Emma gentle smile. "And it's mom, not _ma'am,_ by the way."

Emma opened her mouth as if she was about to speak, but shut it quickly and furrowed her brow.

"What is it?" asked Snow.

"I shouldn't," replied Emma, shaking her head.

"You should," Snow answered firmly. Emma still looked unsure, so Snow placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. "I'm not made of glass you know."

"I...," Emma glanced at a far wall for an instant before she gathered herself. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not there yet." She shook her head. "This is all too - I feel like I'm going _crazy_…" Emma sighed and her face took on a pleadingly apologetic tone. "I'm not ready for that yet. I mean, just yesterday, you were my roommate. My friend… I was just getting used to the idea of you being like," waved a hand about in the air. "You know, maybe the sister I never had. I mean, we're the _same age _for Christ's sake!" she exclaimed. "There aren't any rules for how this goes; how do we do this?" She gestured between herself and Snow. "_Whatever _this is! I mean..." She let out a frustrated huff."This… this isn't weird for you?"

Snow smiled sadly. "I understand Emma. Believe me, this is just as strange for me. The fuzzy memories I mentioned… Everything is a haze, one day blending into the other, not really living in any meaningful way, until one day this tough, determined blonde woman came into town. She was like no one I'd ever met before, but somehow so familiar at the same time. And she woke me up." She gave Emma a small, adoring smile, the warmth of it, was like nothing the 28 year old had ever felt directed at her in her life. She knew how to deal with scorn, or leers, but this kind of pure, guileless love was something she didn't know what to do with. When she was still Mary Margaret they'd been on even footing, in a friendship that ran deep as family, but it was a family that was chosen – not the kind one is born into, creating obligations based on blood alone. She'd never had that kind of relationship before, and before Henry came back into her life, had never understood how people could sacrifice their own happiness for people they didn't even like, simply because they were blood relatives.

Snow gently squeezed Emma's hands. "Everything becomes clear starting at the moment you came into town." She closed her eyes and images of those few fleeting moments with her newborn daughter flitted like ghosts behind her eyelids. "As much as I know, logically, you're my baby girl, I feel like it's only been months –not a lifetime- since I met both my darling little Emma and the one that gave me the gift of hope in my darkest hour. I never had the time to consider that when you'd come back to us, no real time would have passed for me. Without even realizing it, I'd assumed I'd be going grey, moving a little slower... not trading clothes and advice about guys." She shrugged, and the weight of it all could be seen in her shoulders." I don't know where we go from here and I don't know how we'll do it, but the one thing I _do _know is that we will do it as a _family_ – because I'll be damned if another generation in this family is going to be robbed of them again," she declared, the fire in her eyes adding a punctuation that left no doubt that she meant every word. "You're the only blood family I have left, Emma, and I have to believe that it was that bond that drew us together… The rest will come." She wore a smile, clearly an attempt at reassuring Emma, but it didn't reach her eyes. The melancholy expression only made it all seem that much more unfair to Emma that whatever their relationship would become, whatever form their family bond took, the kind formed by learning of life at a parent's side would never be theirs. Nor would her parents ever know Emma the child, the unspoiled little girl that existed before the world had jaded her.

For the briefest of moments, both wondered what could have been, had Emma been allowed to grow up with her family, the life her parents had wished for her, instead of the life she'd been destined to lead. Would she have grown up a reluctant princess or a spoiled one? Knowing what she did from the storybook, she doubted the latter. Would the crown have weighed heavy as a Queen? Emma suddenly realized that she might still find out the answer to that, once the curse was broken, and that idea scared her even more than her coming battle with Regina. She knew how to fight – but to rule? Some half-remembered quote that a good king is a father to all his subjects, and she supposed the same could be said of a Queen. But she didn't even really know how to be a true mother to Henry, let alone an entire kingdom. It suddenly occurred to her that Mary, or Snow, had to be wrestling with the same thoughts. Hell, she'd had more time as a mother with Henry than Snow had had with her.

"I'm _so_ sorry Emma… " said Snow, snapping Emma out of her reverie. "I promised you I would keep your heart in my safe keeping, and instead … I should have been with you, here, every step of the way, to shield you from life's injustices. – not as a zombie in this pointless limbo," she nearly spat the last in disgust – whether it was disgust with herself or Regina wasn't clear, even to Snow herself.

Emma placed her right hand over the hand Snow was resting on her shoulder and squeezed. "Don't you ever say that again... You did what you had to do - I saw what you were up against. If you hadn't let me go, Regina's guards would have killed me, or if I was lucky I'd still be an infant, with no hope of _ever_ growing up. And I'd relive every awful day in the foster program before I'd choose an eternity as a perpetual infant. You gave me my best shot. You saved my life." She chuckled softly and raised an eyebrow sardonically. "Besides, you didn't exactly have a choice in that matter. If that were possible you can bet Henry wouldn't have been born behind bars. So, I think I can take the blame on that one. I've never really been much for depending on other people."

Snow smirked. "Even from the womb, apparently. And that trait is most certainly _my_ fault. As James loves to point out, I can be a little headstrong." The pair shared a laugh.

"Speaking of…" said Emma, reaching down to her right knee high boot, and pulling something out. "Now that you're a little less indisposed, care to tell us how we're supposed to use this?" She held out James' dagger, presenting its intricately carved ebony hilt to Snow.

Snow took the dagger and turned it around in her hand. The apartment's warm lighting almost made the blade seem to glow. "It was an engagement gift from a close friend of ours."

"But if your kiss couldn't wake him up, how is some knife going to do it?"Emma asked.

Snow shook her head. "Only true love's kiss holds magic that powerful, and when my stepmother cursed us, she stole a piece of everyone; not just our memories, but a piece of our souls. And you can't truly, purely, love when you're not whole. I know that now, only because when I awoke, I realized a piece of me had been returned. A piece I didn't even know was missing."

Emma nodded. "Right… but it's still just a knife."

"It's not just any blade," replied Snow.

"It's an athame," answered Piper. Emma and Snow looked at her in surprise. They had been so caught up in the turbulent sea of emotions they were in that they'd forgotten they weren't alone. Snow looked especially surprised as the revelation of her true identity had given her such tunnel vision she hadn't even really seen the three other women. She smiled warmly at Piper in recognition. "It's you! Let me just say thank you for any and all you've done for Emma."

Piper nodded. "It's what we do. But, you're welcome."

"I'm in your debt, nonetheless," replied Snow. "Though I must admit, knowing what I now do about this world, how can it be that you have magic? Are you from another land as well?"

Piper shook her head. "Nope. I'm afraid the reports of no magic have been greatly exaggerated. It's just hidden here."

"Why is that?" asked Snow.

"Good question," replied Piper. "But if I were to guess, it probably has something to do with one too many witch hunts, and the tendency of people, mortals especially, to misuse it for personal gain. You know, Nostradamus, Rasputin, David Copperfield – that kind of thing."

Snow nodded. "I suppose that's wise. There are very few human magic users in my world that haven't been corrupted by their power. Perhaps none of this would have happened had that been the case for us." She shook her head in contemplation. "Well. No use dwelling on things we can't change."

"Right," interjected Emma. "So, what's an athame?"

"And enchanted blade," replied Snow.

"Or cursed," replied Piper. "You don't see many good guys using them around here, though."

"Yes, athames of 'blue' magic, or 'white ' as it's named here, are rare in my world as well," said Snow. "That's part of what makes this so special. This blade is infused with good magic spun by the Blue Fairy herself. You see these?" She ran a finger along the patterns engraved along the middle of the blade. "They're runic enchantments designed to pierce the impermeable."

"I know I'm new to this, but that doesn't sound like 'good' magic," said Emma. "Unless it's like a lightsaber, I guess."

"Most weapons aren't good or evil. It's the person who wields it that matters," said Snow. "And there could be no better master to this blade than James. It's infused with lupine blood."

"Huh?" asked Emma.

"Werewolf," answered Piper.

Snow nodded. "It was a gift from the person you know as Ruby."

"She's a werewolf? I thought the wolf ate little red riding hood," said Piper. "Hell, I've been eaten by the big bad wolf."

"You'll have to tell me_ that_ story some time," replied Snow. "But I believe the version you're familiar with is meant as a metaphor. You see, the lupine blood in her human veins consumes her body and mind during the full moon. After all, how could a wolf swallow a person whole, let alone that person surviving to tell the tale."

Piper shrugged. "I just blew him up from the inside. It's magic, it doesn't have to make any kind of normal sense."

Snow boggled at her. "Now I _must_ insist you tell me that story once this is all through!"

"This is all well and good, but what does that have to do with waking David up?" asked Emma.

"An athame is tied to its owner's essence. If it went through the portal, thus escaping the curse, its magic should be intact. It should still hold the magical bond with him," answered Phoebe.

Emma nodded. "Ok, so let's go wake him up."

Snow shook her head. "No… not yet. As much as my heart aches to rescue him… we can't. Not yet."

"Why not?" asked Piper.

"Because, for all the wonderful traits my James has, he's fiercely loyal – to the point of recklessness. I know him, and I know that the moment he wakes up he's going to leap in headlong without thinking about the consequences. We need to build our forces before we wake him." Snow's eyes were a little watery and shadows of the pain of her self-sacrificial decision danced in her eyes.

"So, who, then? I can't say I've seen a lot of gladiator types wandering around Storybrooke," said Emma.

"The most loyal, courageous, and deadly of all my court. And my closest friend. Red," declared Snow.

"And then, who? Granny?" replied Phoebe with a chuckle.

Piper cocked her head to one side. "Don't let Grams ever hear you say that…"

Snow slid the dagger back into its sheath. "Yes, actually. She may not be much of a fighter any more, but her wisdom is not an asset to be taken lightly – especially not in the nature of war we now face. A lifetime of keeping her family's secret has honed her instincts when it comes to strategy, planning, and subterfuge. And, unless we you know otherwise, we don't know what the consequences of breaking Red free from the curse will be, in regards to her… condition. The possibility that Red may transform with the moon once awoken is a very real concern, if magic does indeed exist in this world. But with Granny around, it will be a much more calculated risk. In any case, Charming's dagger should wake Red, being that it was forged in her blood. I just hope Red will have an idea as to how to wake Granny."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Paige, drawing Snow's attention for the first time.

Snow did a double take before taking a couple steps in her direction. "It's uncanny," she said to no one in particular. "No wonder you looked so familiar…"

Paige cocked her head back reflexively. "Uh… Piper, I think that elixir might be having some side-effects on Snow, here."

Snow shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine. It's just that you look exactly like –" She was interrupted by the ringing of Emma's cell phone, and all eyes were now on the blonde.

"It's Regina," she announced, the irritation evident in her voice. She sighed. "Emma, here."

Regina's side of the conversation was hard to make out, but Regina's agitation was clear. Emma, for her part, looked worried, then angry, then resolute. "I'll be right there." She hung up. "There was a break-in at the mayor's mansion."

"As in the evil queen kind of mayor?" asked Paige.

"Is Henry okay?" asked Snow.

Emma nodded. "Thankfully. Regina's got the guy trapped, but I need to go pick him up. Which is weird – she's never asked if I'd like to see him, let alone asking me to take care of him overnight."

"Now if we only knew if it was a trap or not," said Snow.

"Only one way to find out," replied Paige.

"And that's to go," finished Emma. The pair shared a nod of agreement.

"But what if Regina is using this as a way to break in here again, knowing full well that we're not home?" reasoned Snow.

"She's right," replied Piper. "Someone should stay here."

"I'll stay," Snow volunteered. "To be honest, I'm trying to juggle two different lifetimes worth of memories. And if I see Regina, I'm not sure I can be accountable for my actions – one murder trial is enough for me." There was a fire in her belly that Emma hadn't really gotten to see before and she suddenly realized that while Mary Margaret had been a very particular part of Snow, but not the legendary princess herself. "I need more time to… sort out the jumble of memories in my head before I confront her."

"Then I'm staying as well. She'll need protection if the mayor sends her flying monkeys this way," said Piper. "Paige can get in and out fast, and Phoebe might be able to pick up a vision."

Paige nodded and took Phoebe's hand. "This is a great chance to find out what's in that mausoleum you mentioned. We'll be glamoured- that's magically disguised - just in case." She turned to Emma. "Just keep Regina away from the area. We'll do the rest."

"No problem," replied Emma as she shrugged on her red leather jacket. "It's about time I get the upper hand over her." She took her keys the kitchen table and shoved them into her pocket. "I can drop you two off a few blocks away from the property's gates. There's no way that compound isn't under more surveillance than the White House."

"No need," replied Paige brightly. "Just remember to call out my name, and concentrate on directing it to me if you need help. We can be there in a flash, no matter what."

"What, you got a transporter?" asked Emma

"Something like that," said Paige, a devilish smile on her face.

Emma gave her a puzzled look which promptly fell into befuddlement as she watched the two women dissolve into a million little orbs of bluish-white lights.

Snow simply looked fascinated. "Are you sure you're not using fairy magic?"

Piper shook her head. "Not the last time I checked."

"I – I-" Emma shook her head. "I should be going." She turned on her boot heel and quickly made her way out the door. "Nest I'll be following bits of breadcrumbs to find my way to the lolliop guild so I can raise a munchkin army…" she muttered under her breath as the front door swung closed behind her.

Snow watched her daughter go, her visage a muddy brew of hope, concern, and bittersweet mirth. Piper had stood up by this point and sidled up next to Snow. "If I can come around to this kind of thing, she will too. I can't guarantee she'll be happy with it, though."

Snow sighed. "She shouldn't have had to. If I'd just said 'the hell with it' and stepped into that wardrobe, contractions and all, I could have been there. It wouldn't have been easy, but it would have been better than all the sadness's she'd had to suffer," replied Snow quietly, her eyes still on the closed door.

Piper nodded. "Destiny is a bitch. Unfortunately, she always gets her way. As corny as it sound, you just have to trust that it's for the greater good – for that happy ending." She gently placed a hand on Snow's shoulder. "And remember that we do as much as we can as mothers, but sometimes there's nothing we can do."

Snow met Piper's eyes with her own. "That's the worst part of all. I didn't want to say so in front of Emma, but… I'm not a mother. Not really. And I can barely remember my own mother. I don't know the first thing about what it means to be a mother to a grown woman…"

"Just trust your feelings. Let your heart guide you. You love her, don't you?" asked Piper.

"So much it hurts," replied Snow. "But it's like…" She shook her head.

"Wanting to dance, but not knowing the steps?" asked Piper.

Emma nodded. "How did you know?"

"It's a long story. Let's just say it's a bit of a family tradition."

"We've got time," replied Snow.

Piper sighed, her eyes taking on a distant focus. "Well… it all started when this young man named Chris appeared in our attic..."

* * *

><p><strong>Next Time: Piper gives Snow some motherly advice. Emma confronts Jefferson, and Paige and Phoebe find more than they expected.<strong>


	6. Hunting and Gathering

**Author's Note:** This follows the timeline of the Charmed comics, meaning by 201/2012 all the sisters have had their kids that are seen in the Charmed series finale. Not a big plot point, but for those who haven't read the season 9 comics it might have been confusing.

Also, if you're a fan of the Charming family, please check out my OUAT music video "Fall Awake", about family always finding each other and waking the other up. There's a link in my profile, or you can copy, paste, and reconstruct the following URL: youtube .

com / watch?v=pAAhPYhwbDQ

If you haven't rewatched Season 1 yet, you'll be as amazed as I was putting that video together. The sheer number of mirrored lines, visuals, and such are amazing - especially between James and Emma. I included what I could in this, but there were far more.

**Chapter 6:** Hunting and Gathering

Paige and Phoebe reappeared on the wooded edge of a cemetery that just happened to be located on the border of the mayoral mansion grounds, and with a mutual nod, glamored into the personas they had used a few years previous. Although Regina hadn't seen them yet, it not only served to keep them off her radar, but also to make it look as if there were more than three strangers in town. At the moment conusion was their greatest tool. Paige planted her hands on her hips. "I know evil isn't exactly known for its subtlety, but having a cemetery in your back yard? Really?"

Phoebe shrugged. "Evil tends to warp your sense of normal."

"I guess you'd know," replied Paige cheekily, to which Phoebe's only response was a reflexive slap to her sister's shoulder. "Hey! I'm just saying…"

Phoebe rolled her eyes, but Paige caught the glimmer of a smirk before her sister quickly strode off into the sea of sparsely scattered headstones. "Emma said that the previous Sheriff had taken her to Regina's father's mausoleum – the only one on the grounds."

Paige took a couple leaping strides to catch up to her older sister. "Now there's a shocker. Again, where's the subtlety? It 's like they wanna be caught."

"Maybe some do."

"Like Jack the Ripper and all his wannabes who send letters to the cops to prove how much smarter they are?" asked Paige.

"Yeah. I mean, what's the point, if no one knows you're getting away with something?" Phoebe asked rhetorically.

"The stag's heart," said Paige.

"Huh?"

Paige pointed to a symbol affixed to the front of a small stone building about 20 yards away. "The mausoleum." Paige slowed as they approached. "Look at it – doesn't it look like a claddagh, except horns or antlers caging a heart instead of hands holding a heart?"

Phoebe nodded, gazing up at the mural. "Something's weird here..." She touched a hand to the structure's mossy stone wall. "It's like... warm? But not..."

Paige laid her palm against a brick as well. "I don't feel anything."

Phoebe frowned in confusion. "I think I'm sensing something coming from inside, maybe?"

"Like empathy sensing?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah. It kind of reminds me of when when you were pregnant with the twins. Feelings, but with no ego, or mind behind them."

"Well, Emma did say that the Sheriff thought his heart was here. Maybe his wasn't the only one?"

"I think you might be right..." Phoebe's face screwed up into a sneer. "I can on;y imagine what Coop would think of this..."

"We may find out before this is all through. I mean, if there are hearts in there, what do we do with them?" asked Paige.

"Good question. Let's cross that bridge when we get to it," replied Phoebe, who then made to open the mausoleum doors. She gripped the door's handle and tugged, but was rewarded with only a slight jiggle. She tugged harder a couple times and was met with similar results. "It's locked."

"Good thing we don't need doors," replied Paige as she took Phoebe's hand. The pair dissolved into a flurry of white lights. The ball of orbs swung around and headed for the door, but were violently ejected from the surface. The door itself gave off a spark of dark purple energy, like a magical bug zapper. The orbball came back around for a second try, this time aiming for the roof, but was met by the same magical barrier of energy. Phoebe and Paige rematerialized in a heap on the grass this time. "Well, that's not gonna work." Paige rubbed her head. "Ow, by the way."

Phoebe pulled herself to her feet and swung her head from right to left, loosening the neck muscles. "Looks like it's breaking and entering the old fashioned way." She cracked her knuckles and then screwed up her arms and shoulders, bracing for impact, and made a running leap at the door. As she slammed her right shoulder into it, the door bent back a bit before bouncing back into place. This time she rested her weight back on her heels, before lifting her right leg and delivering a forceful side kick to the door using her levitation power to give it an extra 'oomph'. This broke away whatever locking mechanism was in place, sending the door crashing in violently. It swung back and forth on its hinges, letting forth a loud squeaking whine of protest. "After you," said Phoebe, motioning at Paige.

"Remind me to brush up on my self-defense skills when all this is over," remarked Paige as she made her way into the small stone building. Phoebe followed, closing the door behind her, on the off chance that someone might happen by. The pair began looking around. "I don't see anything... except a lot of dust," said Paige, wiping her hands on her jeans to clear away the grey powder.

"You don't feel that?" asked Phoebe. She planted her hands on her hips and surveyed the room.

Paige paused, letting her whitelighter senses reach out, in much the same way she did to make sure no mortals or demons were present when she orbed into a room. There was nothing at first, but then slowly something seemed to fade in. It definitely felt like a presence, almost an aura, but just as Phoebe said, there was no character to it. No good or bad, not even defjned emotion, just unfiltered feeling. "Yeah... But I don't think it's up here. It feels more like its-"

"Underneath," finished Phoebe. "A trap door maybe?" She began fiddling with the various objects set in recessed shelves along the wall.

Paige, began to do the same, but then paused to focus, trying to get a clearer pinpoint on where the energy was emanating from. She looked down, trying to block out any distractions, when she saw it. "Pheebs, look at this." She knelt down, and ran her fingers along an arching groove in the stone floor. It was well worn, as if something had slid back and forth on this spot many times.

"It ends underneath the stone sarcophagus," remarked Phoebe. The pair exchanged a look and shrugged. They each took up a either end of Henry Mills Sr.'s supposed resting place and pushed into the direction of the scuff mark. With a little effort the stone moved surprisingly easily, as if it were hollow.

"Eureka!" exclaimed Paige as a stairway in the floor, leading underground, the portal looked large enough to get through the pair made their way downstairs into a small chamber, with walls made of brick. As they stepped into the central space that connected the two rooms they noticed that the room was actually lit. To their left was a room whose walls were honeycombed with small stone shelves. Straight ahead was what looked like an empty space. Seemingly the easier room to start with, they entered the chamber.

Phoebe spun around, examining what appeared to be square, simply carved, bluish tiles lining the walls. "God, its like being in he middle of a... actually I don't know what. But whatever that feeling is, it's all around us now."

Paige nodded. "How much you wanna bet that Regina's got herself a little collection down here? The question is, how to open it?" She walked along, examining the tiles. It wasn't long until she saw it. One appeared to be just slightly ajar. She dug a neatly manicured nail into the space and pulled. The tile moved just a bit. With a little more maneuvering she was able to pull the whole thing back and found it was the face of a drawer. She slid it open to reveal a small empty compartment. "What have we here?"

Phoebe took hold of an adjoining tile and pulled it back to reveal an identical compartment, except this one wasn't empty. She pulled out what resembled a jewelry box. "It's weirdly heavy..." she remarked as she switched to cradle it in her left hand so she could open it. She popped a small golden latch on the front and flipped up the lid. Inside, they found what looked like a large, uncut glowing ruby red stone.

"What do you think it is?" asked Paige.

Phoebe stared at the object in wonder. "I don't know. But... I think this is what that feeling my empathy is picking up is coming from."

"From a rock?" remarked Paige incredulously.

"I don't think it's a rock..." said Phoebe as she slowly put her hand into the box. As her fingers touched the strangely soft, spongy object she was suddenly sucked into a vision.

_A young girl, she wore plain clothes that resembled some kind of servant's uniform. She threw herself to the floor and crawled, hands and knees before a darkly gothic woman seated upon a throne. She clutched at the royal woman's fine shoes, kissing them as tears poured down her face and she pleaded for mercy. _

"_Don't be afraid. I won't harm him," replied the Queen. The servant girls face lit up, cautiously hopeful. Tears still trickled down her face. "But I cannot have you trying to run away with my best footman again."_

_The servant girl shook her head emphatically. "No! Never your grace! I shall never if you would but spare him his life. I care not for mine!"_

_The evil Queen raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "No, I expect you don't believe you will. But love is funny like that. It makes us do foolish things." The young girl nodded emphatically, eager to show she'd never cross the woman again. "I'm going to do you a favor, girl. Both of you. I'm going to rid you of life's greatest burden." The girl's face melted into confusion at this, laced with worry. "Ooh, there's no need for concern. In fact, you don't need to worry about feeling anything ever again... I've already helped your beloved." She clapped her hands together twice, and the throne room guards swung open the southern doors._

_A handsome young man with a slight build stepped into the room, his face detached and emotionless. "Marcus!" exclaimed the young servant girl, but the young footman simple looked at her blankly in response to his name. "Marcus?" She swung her head back to face the queen. "What have you done to him?" she asked fearfully. _

_A sinister smile slithered across the queen's face. "Why, I simply helped him the way I'm going to help you, dear." She seemed to float to her feet and glide down the steps of her throne's dais, the servant girl scrambling backward to move out of her way, crabwalking backward while trying to get to her feet simultaneously. The queen came to a stop and looked down her nose at the terrified girl. With a slight nod of her head at the mousey little thing the guards stepped forward and dragged her to her feet. The queen reached out a hand and plunged it into the girl's chest._

_Screaming. Cold laughter. A glowing red orb pulled from the girl's chest._

Phoebe shook her head as the vision cleared from her mind. "It's a heart." Her eyes widened as she took in just how many drawers made up the surrounding walls. "They're all hearts..."

"Oookay," said Paige. "Well, that's creepy. Now what?"

Phoebe put the heart back in its drawer. "We need to find a way to get these back to the innocents they were taken from."

"And we do that how?"

Phoebe shrugged. "I'm not sure. We should probably ask Snow. She might at least know who might be able to tell us."

"And then what?" asked Paige.

"I don't know! When did I become the miss plan-it-all?" exclaimed Phoebe.

"Hey, you're the one who's supposed to have 'all the answers'" teased Paige.

Phoebe smiled back at her sister sarcastically. "I'm on vacation."

"You should fire your travel agent," replied Paige.

"No kidding."

"We should probably make sure the heart of someone important isn't in here."

"Like who?" asked Phoebe.

Paige shrugged. "I dunno, you're the fairy tale fan."

"Fine. But you owe me some serious babysitting time for the headache this is about to give me," she said, taking in the sheer number of drawers and the nightmare visions surely attached to them.

"Hey, have you got a better plan?"

Phoebe crossed her arms. "No... but-"

Paige smirked. "Okay, then. While you do that I'll be in that other wing we passed. There might be something useful on those shelves.

Phoebe nodded and sighed as she lifted her hand to the nearest tile. "Let's get started..."

* * *

><p>Emma pulled up at the top of the mayoral mansion's roundabout driveway and parked at the path that led to the front door. The lights were completely out, and the clouds covering the moon left the property in nearly complete darkness. Without the landscaping lit up by strategically placed spotlights, the house took on a decidedly ominous aura as it loomed above her. Emma pushed the feeling to the back of her mind. Wherever Regina was from, she had no real magic in this world. If it was a trap, it would be a decidedly mundane one. Something she could handle.<p>

She saw movement at one of the second floor windows, and her eyes darted quickly to the source. The curtains at a second floor window swung back and forth, as if suddenly abandoned. Emma finally reached the porch and rested one hand on her gun holster, the other reaching slowly for the door handle. Even if the break-in was legitimate, there was no telling if the intruder was still restrained or had escaped in the ten minutes it took her to reach the property. Just as her hand reached the handle the door swung open suddenly, causing Emma to reflexively step back, gun drawn before she'd consciously thought to grab it. A small figure leapt from the shadows. "Emma!"

Emma sucked in a quick breath. "Jesus, kid!" She suddenly realized her gun was drawn and ready and she quickly shoved it back into its holster. "Don't do that! I could have shot you!"

Henry smiled sheepishly. "Sorry..."

"Henry!" Regina's voice echoed from deeper within the house where, now that she was inside, Emma could see emanated a low, warm glow. Emma broke into a quick stride, making her way toward the light. "I told you to stay in your room! It's not safe!" Henry followed on her heels.

When the pair reached the source of the light, Emma saw that Regina must have been fond of candles, as half a dozen flickered in the dining room, creating a strange twitching mass of shadows on the walls. Emma came to a screeching halt when she saw Regina sitting at the table, sipping on a glass of red wine, her prisoner at her elbow.

_Jefferson_. A cold sensation suddenly socked her in the gut.

Emma looked down at her son. "She's right, Henry." Henry pouted for a second, his eyes pleading with her to let him stay, but she was having none of it with this lunatic around. It suddenly struck here; the mad hatter was actually 'mad'', but possibly not truly crazy. Not that it made him any less dangerous. "I mean it, Henry," she said firmly, but still gently.

"Oh, alright..."

Emma ruffled his hair before nudging him back out of the room. "I promise you'll get the juicy details later," she called after him. Once she was satisfied that Henry was back in his room, she turned her attention back to Regina and Jefferson. The wild-eyed man was strapped to a high-backed chair that more closely resembled a throne than piece of dining room furniture. His nose was dripping blood ever so slowly, and his hair stuck out even more wildly than the last time she'd seen him, indicating some kind of struggle had gone down, and reminding her that Regina was not a vulnerable foe in any setting. The makeshift gag, made from a dish towel, tied around his head and through his mouth, brought flashes of Mary Margaret had just weeks earlier, locked in a bedroom of his massive empty mansion, in a similar tableau.

"What the hell is this?"

Regina crossed her arms. "Exactly what it looks like, Ms. Swan. This man broke into my house."

"What are you up to now, Jefferson?" Emma directed at Jefferson. "Another kidnapping plot?"

Regina's eyes widened. "How do you know his name?" she asked, a bit of paranoia seeping into her voice.

Emma leveled her gaze back at Regina. Had it been 24 hours earlier, she would have pressed the Mayor on why _she_ knew the name of the intruder. But she knew why, now. And it was far too early to tip her hand. "He kidnapped Mary Margaret and myself not too long ago. We broke free, but he disappeared."

Regina crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Jefferson. "I see..." She looked back up at Emma. "And why wasn't I informed of a dangerous criminal on the loose?"

"The last I checked, it wasn't standard operating procedure for the sheriff to report every little incident to the mayor," countered Emma.

Regina raised an eyebrow. There was something different about the blonde's defiance. It was more flippant; less aggressively hostile. Something was going on - she could feel it. The question was, what? Unfortunately, she realized that putting Jefferson into Emma's custody might exacerbate the problem. In any case, she needed to pump him for information, and she couldn't do that with Henry in the house. But she hadn't counted on Emma knowing the the hatter - let alone him being a wanted criminal. It was only a few weeks ago he'd even been able to leave his property. Now, instead of being able to cal simply explain it was a personal matter she'd have to find another excuse to keep him out of her hands. "Of course, you're right," Regina finally sneered, the sentence leaving a bad taste in her mouth. "But for future reference, I would like to be informed if you're aware that a predator is at large in my town."

"You seemed to have held your own," replied Emma, as she circled around Jefferson. She knelt behind him and poked at the decorative rope, clearly re-purposed from a curtain, tied around the man's wrists. "Nice knot work. Don't tell me - you were a girl scout?" Emma asked flippantly. She knew this wasn't the case, of course, but it was all part of the game.

"I was an equestrian as a girl," replied Regina. Emma nodded absently as she pulled a pair of zip-tie handcuffs from her coat pocket. "What are you doing?" the brunette quickly asked.

Emma paused, giving Regina puzzled look. "Taking him in?"

"I'm not pressing charges," replied the brunette.

Emma started at this. "I'm sorry, I was under the impression this nutcase broke into your house. After cutting the electricity, it looks like. And injuring you." Emma nodded her head at the hand Regina was unconsciously cradling with the other. Her knuckles were swollen and red, the second and third suffering from scrapes as well. Regina reflexively dropped her hand and immediately folded them both behind her back. "Not to mention endangering Henry!"

"That's why I summoned you," replied Regina. "As I told you over the phone, I need you to take Henry for the evening. You know I wouldn't ask unless there was another way."

'_Well, she's got me there,'_ Emma mused. "Ok. But I still need to take Jefferson into custody. You yourself just got done saying that he's dangerous. Even if whatever is going on here hadn't happened, he still has an outstanding warrant for kidnapping!" She knew the Mad Hatter wasn't on Regina's side per-se, but she sure as hell knew that he'd work with her if it meant getting his daughter back. Even with that fact aside, now that she knew he wasn't crazy - well, as crazy as she'd thought - that meant he wasn't under the effects of the curse, and had information she needed.

"If he were in custody, I wouldn't need you to take Henry. We have business to settle that's... time sensitive," replied Regina vaguely. "You can take him in the morning. I assure you, he won't be escaping me. "

"Don't be so sure. I practically saw him vanish into thin air. And he's clearly unstable. He wanted me to make a magic hat for God's sake!" Sure, she knew now that magic was real, but Emma knew how to cover her tracks. Your average liar would avoid the topic they have a secret about. But maestros of lying knew the best method of throwing people off was to bring it up the topic themselves.

"Then he clearly needs to be checked into the hospital's psych ward for observation," replied Regina coolly. Jefferson's eyes widened into saucers at this and he frantically darted his gaze back and forth between the two women, giving an unintelligible cry of protest through his gag.

Emma let out a frustrated sigh. "Ok. Well, then I'll call in an ambulance for transport."

A cheshire smile crept across Regina's face. "No, please, let me. Now, if you don't mind, as I said, Jefferson and I have a few... professional matters to discuss. You understand." Emma simply crossed her arms . "In private," added Regina when the blonde didn't move.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "I'm not leaving without questioning him."

"And Henry needs to go to bed soon. I realize you've never raised a child, but they need set routines to be at their best."

Emma's jaw tightened as she bit back a retort, her nostrils flaring as she drew in a deep breath through her nose. "Right. But I can't take him in without reading him his rights, and it would be in his best interest if he gave me his version of events," she directed this pointedly at Jefferson. When Regina's feet stayed planted firmly to the floor, Emma put her hands on her hips, giving the mayor a sarcastic smile. "Alone."

Regina leveled a cold look of warning at Jefferson before meeting Emma's eyes with her own. A chill went down Emma's spine as she watched the other woman's visage morph from calculating rage to elegant politeness in the space of a second. Regina gave her an aggressively polite smile. "Of course. Five minutes should be enough, I think. Mr. Milliner tends to be rather tight-lipped. I'll go tell Henry to pack his things." With a final meaningful look at Jefferson, Regina turned on her heel and made her way out of the room, pulling out her cellphone as she disappeared into the darkness. "Yes, this is Mayor Mills. I have a situation here. I'll need an ambulance equipped with restraining straps..."

"You have the right to remain silent," began Emma, slowly circling the bound and gagged man. "Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be... appointed... for you." Finally the sound of heels on tile faded and Regina was safely upstairs. Emma flipped around and pulled the gag off of his head. "Mr. Milliner?"

Jefferson's face took on a bitter smile. "It's what a hat shop is called. I suppose you don't have many in this land anymore. Regina seems to have found it funny to label her victims with ironic monikers. And I _am _a hatter, of sorts." He shook his head. "Not that I expect you to believe that."

Emma crossed her arms and leaned back onto the kitchen counter, crossing her legs at her ankles. "Suppose I do."

Jefferson's eyebrows shot up. "You believe?"

Emma shrugged. "Your little disappearing act didn't hurt. And let's just say I've gotten a little schooling in magic since we last met."

"You're playing with me again. Telling me things I want to hear." The desperate hatter blinked, then swallowed hard. "But there is no magic here."

"No _fairy tale_ magic," corrected Emma. "Turns out, this world and yours are a little more intertwined than even Regina's been led to believe. And the people who wield it are on my side. So now the question is, whose side are _you_ on?"

Jefferson's brow furrowed. "Whoever can get me my daughter back."

Emma shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? If Regina wins, you know she'll never let you be happy - let alone go home."

"She could turn me into another one of the mindless brainwashed dolts that wander this town, but as long as I have my daughter by my side, I don't give a damn!"

"And you trust her to do that?" asked Emma skeptically.

Jefferson stared down at the floor. "Of course not. That's why I came here tonight. To take Henry and-"

"Use him as a bargaining chip?" growled Emma.

Jefferson looked up. "I wouldn't have hurt him. I'm not a monster. Just a father."

Emma narrowed her eyes at the desperate man. "You're just lucky Regina stopped you first. Because I've only ever had my fists to fight my battles, and I'd wager know how to use them in ways much deadlier than her highness."

"And you wouldn't be a proper mother if you didn't." He sighed. "I'd rather help you than that awful witch. But I'm a desperate man, Ms. Swan. And the final battle is approaching."

"So? Isn't that a good thing for you? You've waited this long, why can't you just be patient?"

"Be patient?" snapped Jefferson, his voice louder than was wise in this particular house. He hushed himself, continuing in a heated tone as he ranted under his breath. "Patient? I've been patient for 28 agonizing years! And if _you _win, as has been foretold, I _still _don't know what will happen. I don't think even Regina does! The only person who _might _know is Rumpelstiltskin!"

"Rumpelstiltskin?" replied Emma. "I thought he was just some troll with a thing for firstborns and gold... I mean, I know he made the prophecy about... me... but-"

Jefferson leaned back in his chair as best he could. "Well, she didn't call him Mr. _Gold_ for nothing..."

"Mr. Gold is Rumpelstiltskin," she stated flatly.

Jefferson nodded. "And he had a hand in this from the beginning. He helped create the curse, and he knows what's going on. He's been awake this whole time, just like me."

"But why? What's he getting out of it?" asked Emma. "He should be as powerless here as Regina."

"I don't know. You'll have to ask _him._ He never strikes a deal that doesn't work to his advantage. But what I_ do _know is the location of something that should pit him against the queen forever."

"And that would be?"

"Not until I get what I want," Jefferson quickly shot back.

"I can have you out of jail in no time, but that's only if you keep your head screwed on straight for the 24 hours of observation in that psych ward."

"Well, I don't have the best record with keeping my head," he remarked with a dark chuckle. "But I think I can manage for a day." There was a shrouded twinkle in his eye and for just a moment Emma thought she saw a glimmer of the devoted father and charming man the hatter used to be, before Regina had gotten her claws into him. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time Regina has stuck me there when she's found me to be a nuisance. It was the only time I ever escaped that prison of a mansion. I know how to look sane when I want back out. No... it's not _my _freedom I want."

"You want your daughter's," replied Emma.

"You wake her up, you bring her back, and I'll hand you an offer that Rumple can't refuse."

Emma eyed him suspiciously. "You know the curse has to be broken for her to remember..."

"No! What I_ know_ that a certain former hunstman was wandering around town asking a lot of questions before he died. Just after he shared a kiss with a certain deputy. I know more than you could ever imagine, and if it gets my daughter back, Regina can have any of what I know."

Emma felt her face flush with outrage, an image of her knee landing against his jaw flashing in her head, but managed to exercise the impulse under control she had lacked as a teenager. "You may not be crazy, but you sure as hell have some _serious _problems. I hear Jiminy Cricket has a practice here in town." That didn't mean her tongue was any less sharp, than in her youth, though.

"You, of all people, should understand what it's like to have that witch keep your child from you - how you'd do anything to get them back!"

Emma cocked her head to one side, haughtily. "And _you _should know by now that I don't respond well to threats. You've watched me long enough..."

A low rumble of frustration sounded in Jefferson's throat. "You're right. I should... But I am a little mad, you know."

Emma forced her hackles down. "I can't just kidnap your daughter - not any more than I can my son."

"I'm not asking for that. Just... " He closed his eyes, as if about to step off a precipice. "Just wake her up. Her and the people she believes to be her parents." He opened his eyes again, the red-rimmed, bloodshot orbs pleading with her. "At first I thought it would be worse for her to know, but now... now I know that the only way I can ensure that we'll be together when the curse breaks is if she remembers."

Emma shook her head. "I wouldn't even know where to begin..."

"You'll figure it out. That's what saviours do."

"So I've been told," Emma grumbled. "Repeatedly."

"Go to my house, get the tea set. Maybe, if she uses it..." He bit his bottom lip, eyes glazed over. "She likes Henry. If he can get it to her... get her to use it... she's a smart girl. My girl." He eyes were lost now, as if he was starting to fall into some sort of mantra.

Emma leaned over and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, bringing him back to reality. "I'll see what I can do," she said softly.

"See that you do, and I'll be in your debt." His eyes shone with a strange mix of desperation and earnestness.

"I don't make promises I can't keep. But if what I read in Henry's book is true, that still makes my intentions better than Regina's word."

Jefferson nodded. "More than you could ever know..."

"The question is, can I trust _you _if she offers you a quicker deal?"

"I can't guarantee it." He gazed up at her, and set his jaw in a determined manner. "But I'll see what I can do."

Before anything else could be said, Henry's voice echoed from the top of the stairs a few rooms over. "Hope you're ready to go, Emma!" She shook her head, smiling to herself, as she realized he was probably trying to make sure Regina didn't get the drop on them. Emma quickly snapped the disposable plastic cuffs on Jefferson's wrists, behind his back. She was doing the same at his ankles when Regina strode back into the kitchen, Henry on her heels.

"Bagged and tagged, Madam Mayor," announced Emma, standing up and wiping her hands on her dark wash jeans.

Regina quickly looked him up and down, the disdain evident on her face. "Excellent."

"I'll still need to question him fully. You see that he's still capable of that tomorrow, or else I'm releasing him from custody. And I _will_ be able to tell if he's been... tampered with." She strode over to her son, and hoisted his small duffel bag over her shoulder. "Henry and I will be waiting outside until the ambulance arrives. You know, in case he makes a break for it."

Regina gave her a tight lipped smile. "I assure you, that won't be happening." She glanced at the bound and gagged man. "If he knows what's good for him." Jefferson narrowed his eyes, shooting daggers at Regina through slitted lids, but his shoulders quickly slumped back down in defeat as the woman simply locked her icy gaze with his.

Emma crossed her arms, watching this little battle of wills, and found herself wondering how the Mad Hatter and Snow White's evil stepmother had ever developed whatever kind of history they obviously had. And then, wondered at how she could already be taking a thought like that in stride. It was enough to give her a migraine, or at least, stretch her patience to a razor-thin margin. "Cmon, Henry," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go. We've got pizza at home, and it looks like you didn't exactly get to finish dinner. Might be a little cold though."

"Do me a favor and don't spoil him too thoroughly tonight. A real mom doesn't get to be the good guy all the time," Regina called after them. Emma clenched her teeth together, determined to remain civil for Henry's sake, and bit back a retort as she closed the front door behind her.


	7. Fumbling Towards Family

**Author's Note:** Many apologies for the long time between updates. My only excuse is that another plot bunny decided to take center stage and wouldn't give up the spotlight to this one until I'd gotten a few chapters on paper. So, if you're enjoying this, please check out my other tale, which will be alternating updates with this one.

It's called "Sparrows and Nightingales" and is a pure OUAT story, using the same narrative structure of the show - a Storybrooke tale interlaced with a complimentary one in FTL. The premise is that after the curse breaks Regina makes a visit to the wishing well, only to accidentally wipe her memory. With no memory of anything that's happened since she and Daniel decided to elope, Emma, Snow, James and the royal court must decide how to dole out justice to a Regina with no memory of what she's done. Meanwhile, in FTL, it's Cora's origin story, and what happened to her after Regina becomes queen. All this is interlaced with my own theories of what we'll be seeing in season 2.

Ok, enough plugging. Thanks again to all the reviewers. They keep me motivated to update more frequently when I know someone's waiting for them. :)

**Chapter 7:** Fumbling Towards Family

"And from what Paige and my husband have told me... he just faded away." Piper blinked back tears as she finished recounting the story that she'd never really had to tell before, which refreshed the emotional wounds in ways she'd never had to deal with.

Snow placed her hand over the Piper's, which rested on one knee, and shook her head. "I... I know it sounds awful, but now all I can think is that I'm glad I haven't had to deal with that."

Piper shrugged as the last of her unshed tears cleared from her vision. "And I'm glad that I still have all those years back... It all has its own price, I guess. That Chris isn't the one I'm raising, any more than the evil version of my other son. But just the same, I'll never get him back."

Snow nodded. "Just as I'll never get those 28 years... her childhood, back... you still do believe in happy endings don't you?"

Piper cocked her head to one side considering everything she's seen. At the end, what she truly clung to was meeting her future self and that Scrabble game. A nostalgic smile slowly spread across her face. "I do..." She sighed. "And hey, look at it this way, you two can retire with Emma - form a shuffleboard team or something. You haven't lost any time – just a lot of dirty diapers," Piper said with a smirk.

Snow returned the look and sat back into her chair. "I suppose so... but I'd deal with all the diapers in this world and mine if it meant getting back... getting all of it back. So many firsts..."

Piper regarded the raven-haired woman, who for all intents and purposes, was both younger than her, yet had technically lived enough years to be her mother. "When all this is sorted out... whatever the outcome... she doesn't have to be the only one."

Snow looked down, watching her own hands clasp each other. "But she'll always be special... in an entirely different way." She looked up at Piper again, her brows furrowed in worry. "Is that even fair to do to another child – or Emma for that matter? Their big sister, old enough to be their mother, who saved us all. That's a long shadow. And Emma... watching our child grown up with the life she should have had..."

"I'm sure Emma would understand. I'm not saying it would always be easy for her, but she has Henry. And if she ever plans on settling down, she'll be facing the same questions as you. She'll understand." Piper offered a reassuring smile. "As for another child down the road..." She shrugged. "I know it seems like you love Emma so much, you can't conceive of having room in your heart for another. But you will._ Every_ kid is special. And truth be told, I was worried about the same thing with my first. Wyatt was foretold as a child of great power – the new King Arthur if you can believe it – so _believe_ me when I say I_ know_ how you feel. But Chris - well, you know what Chris did, and Melinda..." She shook her head. "It's the definition of comparing apples to oranges. They're all amazing in their own way. You won't know how much love a heart can hold until they worm their way in there."

Snow's face took on a reflective, lopsided, smile. "Oh, I think Henry has shown me..."

"He's quite the kid," Piper agreed, smiling. "And hey, he's got plenty of firsts left."

"How did you do it?" Snow asked abruptly.

Piper shrugged but Snow's expression of worry and suppressed panic quickly made her realize she couldn't simply gloss over the whole affair as she had with everyone - including herself. She sighed. "To be honest, I think ... I don't know. It just sort of happened? Even after I knew the truth - that this grown man was my son, I didn't really 'deal' with it. In fact, it was harder than anything, at first. It didn't help that Chris spent weeks avoiding me after that. You're lucky with Emma in that way. I was convinced I was some kind of horrible mother to him... when it turns out I died when he was just 14." She shook her head. "Which just means I abandoned him, really." She looked up at Snow. "My mom died when I was 5."

Snow put her hand over Piper's and squeezed. "Me too."

Piper nodded. Much like most fairy tales, Snow White's whole story was set in motion by the absence of a mother, but this was the first time Snow was a real person, and a sudden feeling of kinship with the woman fluttered in her heart. "This is probably weird to hear, but your story was always my favorite."

Snow raised an eyebrow. "Please don't tell me it's because of the cutesy singing," Snow groaned.

Piper laughed. "Uh, no." She shrugged. "My Grams always said that fairy tales were records of great battles between good and evil. But your story was never about that for me."

"Not as weird as it should be," replied Snow as she realized that what Jefferson had told Emma about holding two sets of memories in your head was just as maddening as he'd said. On the one hand, she could remember growing up a princess, but on the other, she remembers reading Snow White's tale, as well as watching the movie as a kid. Or rather, remembers that it happened without being able to picture it. She'd played it for her students on rainy days but had no idea why. The film was inexplicably irritating, yet she was drawn in every time, and couldn't help herself from watching it. Now, of course, she knew why. It was her story - told in the most sickeningly simplified way possible. She didn't blame Emma for not believing in _that_ kind of world. The image of Grumpy watching his cartoon self blush at the slightest attention from herself suddenly popped into her head and it _almost_ made the existence of that film worthwhile. "So, what _was_ it about for you?" asked Snow.

"Family, replied Piper simply. "I lost my mother when I was very young, and I know that's a recurring theme in fairy tales, but in Snow's, er, your case, you don't just stay ostracized. You go out and build your own family, and get your happy ending by not letting it all change whom you are. Plus, I liksd to bake too," Piper added the last flippantly, trying to keep the hero worship vibe to a minimum.

Snow cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. "I _wonder_... I think that just might be why I like the Brady Bunch." She shot Piper a wry smile. "When I was a girl I think I'd have given anything for that kind of step-family."

Piper nodded - she knew the fantasy all too well. "I made a promise to myself a long time ago that if I ever had kids, they'd never have to experience the heartbreak of losing a parent." She let out a bitter laugh. "Boy did I fail _that_ test."

Snow furrowed her brow and tilted her head to one side. "You can't blame yourself for that. And you know now. It doesn't even have to happen!"

The bitterness fell away from Piper's face, leaving only a wistful regret in her eyes. "Still... he experienced it. _That _Chris lived it, and it turned him into a hardened, neurotic when he was barely old enough to be called a man. Whatever goodness was left in Wyatt was destroyed by it... I failed them all."

"Oh, you-" began Snow, in an attempt to comfort the woman. She knew that feeling of guilt all too well.

Piper waved her off. "Don't worry about it. I know what you're going to say, and I've dealt with it. I've seen my... happy ending."

Snow shook her head. "This may sound terrible, but I'm still envious, in a way. He got to have you before you were gone. He knew you as a mother when you met. Emma... she doesn't know how to be a daughter anymore than I do a mother. Where do we even start?"

"Phoebe and Paige could speak to that better than me. Neither of them had a single memory of our mother. Hell - Paige had to be given up as an infant, just like Emma, and didn't even grow up in our family. But you'd never know it, seeing her with our mom now."

Snow sat back, ruefully. "And Regina called this a terrible land. I can't tell you what I'd have given as a girl to see my mother just once more; even now, there are few things I wouldn't trade for that opportunity."

Piper nodded. "From what I've seen, the mother-daughter thing will come eventually. It's already there in its own way. At least it did for my sisters. Unfortunately, there are only four things I can advise you on for certain."

"At this point I'd be happy with just being pointed in any direction. After all, there are no maps to follow when you're the first to explore it, right?" She tried to laugh lightly but the sound caught in her throat, twisting it into a nervous quiet chuckle. "So, what _can _you tell me?"

"First off, make talking to you as easy as possible. That means she shouldn't feel judged when she comes to you. If she does, that's one door closed in a room with no windows. She nearly backed out of waking you up right away, because she was scared you'd be disappointed in her."

Snow shook her head emphatically. "I could never! I mean - we did get in a fight the other day, over her almost leaving Storybrooke with Henry, but I wouldn't... I accused her of backsliding." Her shoulders dropped. "Which I'm sure means to her I didn't think she was a good person before. How could I be so... callous?"

Piper gave Snow a reassuring look. "You were being a mom - even if you didn't know it yet. Like I said, it's all in here," she said, tapping two fingers over her heart. "But that does bring me to number two - and I can't emphasize this enough; give her her space. You're not just room mates now, and everything you say, _every_ action, will be perceived through that lens. So, even something as simple as asking how a date went will be seen as 'mom' checking in - not Mary, looking for some vicarious juicy gossip. We went through that with Paige when she moved in. She'd never had siblings before, and didn't know how to handle people caring about how she lived her life. It took her years to figure out how to be a part of a family without feeling like she was losing herself - and we're just her sisters; not her mother. And if there's anyone more independent-minded than Paige, I'd guess it'd be Emma." Snow smiled ruefully. A confusing mix of pride and shame - a feeling getting far too familiar already - blossomed in Snow's chest. Her daughter was amazingly independent, and she'd overcome a lot without losing her compassion, but she wouldn't have needed to if it weren't for her decisions.

"Thirdly, and this ties point number two,_ don't_ try to keep making up for lost time. Build memories? Sure. But drill her about her last 28 years, and all you'll be accomplishing is Emma reliving a lifetime of painful memories that happened because of a choice you made when she was born." Piper gave her an apologetic look, but continued. "No offense. Whether she blames you for that decision or not, it'll only result in you smothering her in an effort to give her all the things you couldn't when she was growing up." A memory of 'grandpa' Victor taking Chris out for steaks and cigars flashed in her mind. "I think the biggest thing Chris taught me was that we, as parents, want to give our kids the world; especially if we've brought sadness into their lives. And you can do that when they're kids, but once they grow up, all they really remember is the time with family."

"All I ever wanted to give her was the mother I never had," replied Snow quietly.

Piper nodded sympathetically. "I know the feeling. Look, what I'm trying to get at is that apologizing for every skinned knee and lonely birthday isn't what they want or need. They just want you to be there; to talk when they need it _now_. But more importantly, focus on building new memories. The best moments always appear organically - not planned to death. Of course, that's one I'm still learning." A small smile played across her face.

Snow nodded as she realized she'd already started mentally filing a list of activities she'd planned on sharing with Emma; some simple things her daughter had missed growing up in this realm, some she'd planned since she found out she was pregnant. Horseback riding, a skill any adult in her kingdom learned as a child, could wait. Cooking Emma her favorite meals from her own childhood in the enchanted forest; showing her the same forest as only she could, archery, the list went on. But she realized those were all about her and what she and James had missed. Emma could ask when _she_ wanted to know about where she came from, and Snow trusted her daughter would, eventually. Imagining Emma and herself simply having a girl's night in with movies, wine, and a decadent dessert, suddenly seemed much more appropriate. Getting to know her as her real self, not the pollyanna construct of Mary Margaret who hadn't ever had to make a hard decision until Emma came to town. Maybe even getting Emma to open up in a way that family does. Sure, she'd called Snow family before the curse was broken, and it has warmed Mary for reasons she couldn't understand, but things had been so crazy - with the trial and its aftermath - that they hadn't really had any quality time since the pronouncement. She shook her head clear of the regrets, and realized she didn't know how long she'd been staring off into space. "I'm sorry, I just...

"It's alright. This is all a lot," replied Piper with a warm smile.

"So.. the fourth thing?" asked Snow.

"The fourth thing?..." Piper leaned in and smiled conspiratorially. "Disregard numbers one through three whenever you want; _sometimes_ that's just a mom's prerogative."

Snow laughed. "Good - I've never been one for.. always coloring inside the lines."

"Lucky for us, I think Henry takes after you."

"Who do I take after?" called out Henry. The sound of the front door closing, which the two women hadn't noticed opening, punctuated his question. Henry dropped his backpack full of pajamas and a change clothes, and bounded up to Snow. He came skidding to a halt in front of her as she stood up, and looked up, studying her face. "So... should I call you Miss Blanchard, or... something else?"

Snow crouched down on one knee, putting herself eye level with the boy, and smiled ruefully. "What do you think?"

"It's really true, you're not just playing along right?"

Snow nodded gently. "You were right all along, Henry." The boy quickly snatched her up into a baby bear hug, which she gladly returned. Her reunion with Emma was, and would be, complicated. But for all she regretted about their circumstances, she'd known Henry since he'd started going to school - and she'd been his only surrogate family for almost as long as Mary Margaret could remember. This reunion was easy; the only thing that would change is what he called her.

Emma, who had come in to stand behind Henry, crossed her arms as she watched the display, and tried to keep the guilt in her heart from reaching her eyes. It was the least she could do for Henry after everything else. _'After not believing in him,'_ her own voice echoed in her head. She knew better than most that adults could leave scars on a child's heart with even the simplest thoughtless statement. She never should have let Henry know she didn't believe in him. He shouldn't have to double check that his own family wasn't just humoring him.

When the pair broke their hug, both immediately looked to Emma, their features such a startlingly mirrored smile of the other that she wondered how she'd not believed from day one. Snow and Henry looked at her with such love the pain in her heart swelled. It took Emma a moment to realize it wasn't a pang of guilt - it had been washed away under a wave of such pure love that it actually hurt. Yet another thing she'd always thought was a myth that she'd have to mentally refile as real. '_Next it'll be love at first sight,' _she thought to herself.

Snow stood up, though she kept a hand on Henry's shoulder. Henry, still a ten year old boy above all else, quickly moved on, oblivious to the look still being shared between mother and daughter. "Hey! What should I call you, anyway?"

"Well, she _is_ your grandmother..." offered Emma mischievously. Snow's eyes narrowed into slits at Emma, even as she couldn't keep the smile completely off her lips.

Henry, not seeing the humor, simply scrunched his nose at this and examined Snow. "Nah..." He shook his head. "She's way too young to be called granny - and anyway, we've already got one granny in town!"

The three women laughed at the boy's logic, with Snow giving Henry an especially pleased look. "_Thank _you Henry. I'm glad you think so - and for that..." She made the quick trip into the kitchen and retrieved a tupperware container full of cookies from the pantry. "You get dessert _before_ dinner."

Henry's face lit up. "Alright!" He quickly joined her at the counter, hopping up onto a stool.

Emma crossed her arms, knitting her brow ever so slightly. "Mare - I don't know. We're on slippery enough footing with Regina as it is, and the one thing she told me not to do was spoil Henry and-"

Snow cocked her head one side. "And do you _always _do what Regina commands?" She wrapped both hands around her mug of lukewarm cocoa and took a slow sip, her eyes peering intently at Emma over the mug.

Emma rolled her eyes, but immediately smiled. "I'll get the milk." Snow set out four glasses as Emma retrieved the milk from the refrigerator. "Don't go thinking I don't know what you just did there," added Emma as she poured.

Snow flung a hand to her chest over-dramatically. "Perish the thought!"

Piper settled in next to Henry, taking the offered milk before grabbing a cookie. "Unfortunately, I believe there's something in the family handbook that says all the fun parts of parenting go to the aunts, uncles, and grandparents. You know how happy I was when my sisters had children and I finally got to spoil their kids back?"

"Where are they anyway?" asked Henry. "I had some questions about magic for Operation Cobra!"

"They went to go check on Regina's mausoleum for clues," replied Piper.

"Speaking of," interjected Emma. "I think we can safely say she wasn't setting a trap. Jefferson broke into her mansion."

"It was awesome - I didn't even know the Queen could fight!" At the looks on the three women's faces Henry pulled back his enthusiasm a bit. "I mean, you know, it was just like a movie."

"Except this is very real and very dangerous, Henry," replied Snow gently, but firmly. "Jefferson is a desperate man willing to do desperate things."

"And you could've gotten hurt... or worse," added Emma quietly. The whole mom thing was still new, but she was trying to treat Henry the way she'd wanted to be treated when she was his age. Just forbidding things without a reason, and having those rules change with every new foster family, was what pushed her into rebelling in the first place - and she was pretty sure it was Regina's arbitrary rules and punishments with no explanation that drove Henry right down fairy-tale lane to begin with, doing herself in without even knowing it. "You believed before any of us that the stories in that book were real, right?" Henry nodded. "Which means you need to understand - I mean _really_ make it real in your heart, and not just your head, that every terrible thing in that book happened. The people that died, like Snow's father, were just as real as Graham." She couldn't help but shoot at look at Snow, as if to apologize, but her would-be mother was too engrossed in Henry to seem to have paid much mind to her comment. Or maybe she was past the real pain of losing her father. She wasn't really sure how long ago that was to Snow. She returned her attention to Henry. "Do you know _why_ I need you to do that?"

Henry was looking at his cookie, idly breaking off little crumbs with his thumb at the scolding. He nodded and looked up. "I don't want you to get hurt either," he finally replied in a small voice. Graham was the first person he'd ever known who had died in the little town that time forgot, and suddenly he felt shame for treating the whole curse thing more like a grand adventure, rather than the serious matter of life and death that it was.

Emma smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Don't worry kid, I'm not going anywhere. Family sticks together."

"No matter what," added Snow. "Don't you ever doubt it."

"Is this the part where you break into song?" asked Emma; deflect the situations that left her feeling emotionally vulnerable had been a habit for too long to break instantly. She was promptly met with a swift dishtowel to the face. "Hey!"

Snow raised a sardonic eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You're lucky that's the worst I did. You wouldn't like me when I'm singing."

"Why? Can I blame you for not being able to carry a tune?" asked Emma.

"No, you can blame James for that. But I'm not really the singing type. It tends to come with the urge to kill adorable forest animals," replied Snow, thinking back to how she'd nearly killed an innocent bluebird - never mind how badly she'd treated the dwarves - after she'd taken Rumpelstiltskin's potion.

"What?" asked Emma.

"Yeah... I don't think Mr. Disney would have sold so many tickets to see the real story..." added Snow lightly as she began to tidy up. She paused for a second, considering something. "Well... not as a kid's movie anyway." Emma and Piper exchanged an amused, if puzzled, look.

"Is that after you took the forgetting potion?" asked Henry.

Snow nodded. "That book may be the most accurate version of what happened in our world, but it's still missing a lot of the little things."

"Like what?" asked Henry eagerly.

Snow rested her elbows on island kitchen counter and leaned closer to Henry, and her manner suddenly took on a more serious tone. "A book will tell you how something happened, but only the people who lived through it can tell you _why_. Regina wasn't born evil... and I _may_ have been more like the Disney Snow White as a girl than I like to admit, but that's not what matters. It's the details are the most important lessons."

Henry thought for a moment. He'd always appreciated that Mary Margaret didn't talk down to him simply because he was a kid. "So, like, when I fell off my bike and scraped my knee up real bad, I either had the choice to never ride again, and stay scared, or I could get back on and just remember be more careful?"

"Basically, yes - what you decided isn't as important as _why_ you made that decision, and what you learned from it. _That's _what affects how you make similar decisions for the rest of your life. I''ve seen you on your bike, so you tell me; why did you decide to try again? "

"The evil... " He reconsidered this. "My Mom... told me that the I should never give up on what I want to do in life. And the only way to do that was to try again." It wasn't the evil queen that had kissed his knee and given him the confidence to try again with one simple hug that day. It had been the Regina that was his mother.

Snow smiled at Henry, though her eyes were distant for just a moment. "She told me something very similar once, too. Now think, _why_ would she bother to teach you such a thing?"

"Because she cares?" answered Henry with some uncertainty.

Snow nodded. "Somewhere in there is the same loving young lady who had her heart broken in the cruelest way imaginable. It doesn't make her choices since then okay, but caring to understand _why _someone does what they do is what separates good from evil. And why vengeance is wrong."

"But didn't you want to kill the Queen before? You tried to, anyway."

Snow gave him a patient smile, much like he'd seen on her face during a particularly challenging lesson in class. "Right. All the good in our hearts come from the love built by all those little reasons 'why'. Have you stopped to wonder why during everything Regina put me through as Mary Margaret, the worst I could manage feeling for her was pity?"

"I have," Emma piped up, only half-jokingly. This earned her a glare that clearly yelled 'not helping' from Snow and her mind's eye suddenly conjured up visions of what being a teenager with this woman as her mother could have been like. Emma threw up her palms in silent apology and she saw the briefest flicker of amusement in the other woman's eyes. _'Softy. I knew it,' _she concluded to herself.

Snow took Henry's hand to refocus him. "It was because the curse took our memories and not our hearts. Now that I have my memories back, I know we need to stop her, and I know how. But at the root of that is stopping her because she'd hurt everyone I care about. It gives me purpose, but not vengeance. As lonely as Mary Margaret 's life was for me, the love that makes up my heart always found a purpose, and a place to go."

"Like your students," concluded Henry.

"Exactly. And a life full of injustices have left a hole in Regina's heart so big, even you sweetie, can't fill it. But the fact that she even tried means there's something left inside."

"Why didn't she do that with you back when she could? I mean, you wanted her to be your mother ..."

Snow sighed. "I don't really know Henry. I've asked myself that many times over the years. Jiminy once said it was because I reminded her of what she'd lost - even if she didn't blame me at first, he thinks she blames me for rubbing salt in the wound."

"Well, Jiminy would know best about that kinda thing," Henry declared. "After all, even Gepetto hasn't totally forgiven him for accidentally turning his parents into puppets. And he's one of the good guys."

"Wait - what?" asked Emma.

Henry shrugged. "It's in the book. You really should read it."

"I'm getting to understand that," Emma replied slowly.

Snow nodded. "He's said in passing that he owed Gepetto a great debt. He never mentioned it was so..." She sighed. "We're going to have to have a talk when he wakes up."

"But what do you mean Gepetto hasn't forgiven him?" asked Emma. "Isn't Jiminy Cricket supposed to be Pinocchio's conscience?"

Henry nodded. "Well, yeah, but he was Geppetto's conscience before that. But what he said to Jiminy when he tried to stop him from putting Pinocchio in the wardrobe, I don't think he's totally forgiven him."

Snow shot straight up in her seat. "Wait - he _what_?" she cried.

"Pinocchio went through the wardrobe too," replied Henry matter-of-factly. At Snow's blanched face he shrunk back. "No one told her yet, did they?" Emma simply gave him a blank look. "Oh, you didn't read that part yet, either?"

Emma placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah... that hadn't exactly come up yet. Was Pinoccio coming with me not part of the plan?" she asked Snow. With everything going on she hadn't had the time to consider what a strange decision that would have been.

"_**Never**_! The Blue Fairy told us only _one _could go through the wardrobe!" She turned to Emma. "Pinnochio was a dear little boy to James and I, but he was just that. A _child_! I would _never_ have let you go through alone if I thought more than one person could!" The outrage in her voice was palpable; the type of outrage she'd only heard from Mary Margaret when she'd nearly left Storybrooke with Henry - and she was glad she wasn't on the receiving end this time.

Henry had used this as an excuse to make a hasty retreat; truth be told, the Snow part of her was more intimidating than he'd thought she'd be. He quickly found the book, and laying it out on the counter, flipped it to the right page. "Here, see? It's from the part August added in..."

"August?" asked Snow, surprise tempering her tone. "Why would he add to the book?"

"He's Pinocchio," replied Henry.

Snow raised an eyebrow, all anger forgotten at the moment. "The stubble-wrapped typewriter is Pinocchio?" she asked incredulously.

Emma nodded. "Yeah... weird huh? He's the one who brought the Halliwell sisters here, and told us we needed to wake you up."

Snow scanned the page of the book retelling the last moments before Pinocchio was sent through the wardrobe, forcing herself to calm down, only to find it ended the moment she disappeared from inside the enchanted device. She shook her head, her jaw set in simmering anger. "If he'd just had faith in us... how could he think a boy who hadn't even been real for a full year yet could do a better job protecting the saviour than her own parents?" she whispered under her breath.

Emma bit her bottom lip, not sure about how she felt about this herself; suddenly confronted with the knowledge that its worst, Regina's curse should have left her being raised by a single mom. But her real mom. It had been Marco - that kind old man, who had helped save Henry's life - she had to blame for being alone her whole life. She leaned forward into Snow's line of sight, breaking the other woman's own internal monologue.

Snow gave a startled twitch as Emma came into view and met her daughter's eyes. She could feel the hot sting of tears in her eyes, which she blinked back. She's always hated that they did that when she was angry; as if she didn't look soft enough as it was, she'd always felt it undermined any air of authority she'd crafted. Looking into her daughter's eyes, she realized anew just how much Gepetto had stolen from her with that one selfish act. "Well... I guess he got what he deserved... he missed most of the life of the child he spent his whole life yearning for... and only got near the end of his life." She let out a sudden bitter laugh and turned to Piper. "I think I just understood the blessing that being frozen in time really was." A single tear rolled down her cheek as she exchanged a meaningful look with what was probably the only other mother in this world who could understand what she was going through. "So, why isn't Pinocchio, er, August here?" she asked finally.

Emma's face fell at this. "He's turning back to wood."

"Because he turned his back on you. And now the curse is breaking," stated Snow flatly.

Emma nodded. "Look - please don't be angry with him." Watching her mother's reaction to this revelation, Emma realized that however much she was angry with Marco at the moment, from what it said in the book, August had tried to do the right thing. At seven years old, stuck in a strange world alone, he'd stuck by Emma longer than she had Henry.

Snow's eyes widened at this plea from Emma, but her eyebrows knit in disbelief almost instantly after. "He _abandoned _you, Emma!" Her voice ground like stone on glass.

The blonde shrugged. "And he's paying for something no seven year old should have been asked to do." Her tone of voice made it clear her mind was made up on the matter; her crossed arms a punctuation to the matter.

"Wouldn't you be angry if someone had done that to Henry?" Snow asked.

"_I _did that to Henry. August was just a kid; he shouldn't pay for his father's mistakes. Besides, it would have happened eventually. He didn't know to claim to be my brother; everything he knew about being honest and true in your world would have worked against him in this one."

"You gave me my best shot," added Henry with a smile for his mom.

The memories of Mary Margaret swirled around in Snow's head, telling her Emma was right, of course, but she just couldn't seem to make the Snow in her agree. She sighed, suddenly fatigued at the cognitive dissonance of having two selves life experiences battling for supremacy. Finally, she realized that she had no business holding a grudge against the boy if Emma didn't. "I know - I _know_ you're right."

"You can go show Marco your right hook if you want," replied Emma with a gently humorous tone. "I don't think the sheriff will blame you..."

This got a smile from Snow. She sighed. "No... Gepetto is a good man. A stubborn fool... but a good man trying to save his son. But the Blue Fairy and I are most _certainly _going to have some words." She shook her head. "I suppose I should read that book I gave you after all, Henry. I don't need to be blindsided by a similar revelation at the wrong moment."

Henry nodded. "It's about time Operation Cobra finally had a debriefing."

Snow tilted her head to one side, studying him, and suddenly chuckled at the absurdity of the fact that somehow they'd all just accepted Henry as the defacto leader of Operation Cobra. "You know, I think you'll make a great king one day," she observed, the warmth at the thought seeping into her voice. "I should know - I was raised by the greatest of all." Henry shrugged, as if he could take or leave the idea of ruling a kingdom, and Snow was glad for it. He was far too young to be shouldering what he already had; no child should understand the weight of rule, and no good ruler sought out power for glory's sake. Whatever else Regina had done, she'd somehow manage to raise a boy true of heart. And it was the first time in a long time that she'd been able to put a point in the favorable category of her step-mother's pro's and con's list. Snow turned around and flipped on her oven. She could worry about Regina and Gepetto, and curses and missions later. Tonight was for family. "Would you like to hear about my father while dinner reheats?"

"King Leopold?" asked Henry. "Sure! There's not a lot of him in the stories..."

Snow nodded before bending over to slide a pan of pizza into the oven. "Well... that's probably because when he ruled the kingdom, it was at peace and prosperous; not exactly the stuff of great stories."

"How could him being king make everyone rich?" asked Emma, drawn into getting some details about her family history despite herself.

Snow smiled. "Oh, not that kind of prosperous. But taxes were fair, the people were safe and happy, and those that had fallen on hard times were always given aid..."

As the three generations that shared fairy tale blood settled into familial conversation, Piper used the opportunity extract herself from the conversation. She wanted to compose a text message to her sisters; they'd been gone longer than had been planned, and while she believed she'd know if something had happened, she couldn't help making sure everything was alright. As she brought up her phone's message center she noticed she'd received a message from Leo. Opening it up, she saw Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris, looking like little angels as they cuddled together on the couch, having fallen asleep watching a movie, if the bowl of popcorn was any indication. She glanced back up at the newly reunited family before her, suddenly finding her resolve to stop this latest threat to her family - everyone in this world's family - was re-energized. She took a quick moment to set the photo as her phone's wallpaper, then began to compose her message to her sisters.


	8. The Enchantress's Daughter

**A/N: **My many apologies to all who have been waiting so long for an update. The muse for this story went on sabbatical, apparently. So, this chapter isn't very long, but I wanted to get Snow's recognition of Paige as familiar out before "The Miller's Daughter", as this twist was part of the plan from the beginning. Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>: The Enchantress's Daughter

Piper had no more than pushed send on her text message than the jingling glow of orbing began beside her.

"Ok, ok, keep your panties on, will ya?" muttered Paige as she and Phoebe's physical bodies swirled into simply made a dash for the couch, and in a few long strides, flung herself down onto the cushions.

A boy's laughter echoed through the apartment. "Wow! That is _so_ cool!" exclaimed Henry.

Piper made her way over to Phoebe and Paige followed as she explained. "We kinda found something under the mausoleum that complicates things."

"It was empty when I searched it," replied Emma.

"Did you check everywhere? Even _under_ the sarcophagus?" asked Paige, wrly.

"There's a secret passage?" asked the blonde.

"Apparently. And I can see why she'd have to hide it. I'm pretty sure keeping a collection of human hearts is kinda illegal - at least without the right permits," said Paige.

Snow's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "She has her _hearts _in Storybrooke?! Are you certain?"

"Again. Apparently so. That's what's got Pheebs here looking like she just ran a marathon." And it was true, the woman was sweaty and clearly exhausted. "We scanned-" Phoebe narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Fine. _She_ scanned all the hearts. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find any that seemed 'important' from her little premonition-thon. Snow, do you have any idea whose hearts may be in there?"

Snow shook her head. "I'm afraid not. She took so many, even she lost track."

Paige sighed. "Well, that sucks."

"Thanks for the concern over here," Phoebe managed finally.

"Eh!" grunted Paige, waving her sister's remark off with her hand. "You've been worse."

"Why did you need to know whose hearts they were?" asked Emma, and then scrunched up her nose. "Wait, are we talking bloody Jeffery Dahmer stuff here or...?"

"Magical," replied Snow. "With magic you can pull out a person's heart, but it's solid and glows red. It's like taking out their very soul. You can use one to control a person, or you can simply crush it and that person's life force away. Regina can control whomever's hearts she's stolen. If it's someone powerful, or someone we think we can trust, this could be _big_trouble."

Emma nodded. "So, this just means we need to lay _really_ low right now. Cause right now the deck is stacked entirely in favor of her."

"Or so she thinks," remarked Piper. "But you're right."

"Which I guess means, we're having a sleepover," said Snow firmly, despite the flippant phrasing. A ding signaled the pizza was warm again and they all sat either at the table or the couch.

Paige eyeballed the small apartment. Halliwelll Manor, it was not. It was kinda her bohemian style, though. "So... do you think it would be personal gain for us to conjure some bunk beds or something?"

"Paige..." warned Piper.

"Hey! I was just kidding," grumbled Paige. "It's not like it would turn me back into the Evil Enchantress or anything."

The sound of a slice of pizza flopping back down onto a plate followed this. "Did you just say Evil Enchantress?!"

"Who's she?" asked Henry, ever eager for another story that made his world make more sense.

"You've heard of her?" asked Phoebe.

"Yes, of course. Only stories - she was perfor my time, but..." Snow's eyes narrowed as she studied Paige. "It _truly_ is uncanny how much you resemble her... but that can't be. You're good, and she most certainly wasn't. The Evil Enchantress - she died ages ago!"

Paige swallowed uncomfortably, while Piper raised an eyebrow. But, leave it to Phoebe to blurt what they were thinking. "Ha! You hate fairy tales and you _were_ one!"

"I know the feeling," said Emma under her breath.

"How is it possible that _you_ are the Evil Enchantress?!" cried Snow.

"Was. _Was_ her."

"You know about reincarnation, right?" asked Phoebe of the Storybrooke natives. "Well, apparently it can happen across worlds. "And dear Paigey here was apparently living in your realm, many hundreds of years ago. Or at least, we thought it was that long ago. I guess we were in Fairytale Land?"

"The Enchanted Forest," corrected Snow absently. She was still trying to process this.

"But how do you recognize me? You said she was before you time?" Paige finally asked.

"My stepmother, Regina, her mother brought many family items to our castle when they moved in before the wedding. One of those things was a cherished portrait. I mean, I assume it was cherished, even after banishing Cora - her mother. It was of her mother's mother.." Snow shook her head, trying to keep it all straight.

"So... your great, great, great grandma?" asked Henry.

Snow smirked. "Yes. Well, step, not by blood. In any case it looked exactly like... you."

Paige sighed in exasperation. "That damned woman's karma just keeps coming back to me!" At Snow's look, she just replied, "Don't ask. Anyway, the point is, I'm not evil. Never have been in this lifetime - I guess, worked off my karmic debt. But yeah, I... was her. Not that I remember any of it."

"So, what did happen to the lady?" asked Henry.

"Well..." This was suddenly awkward as she realized she was talking about the same woman - or at least piece of her - not two feet away. "The story goes that this woman started as an advisor and soothsayer to the King of the kingdom neighboring my own. She eventually seduced the King and became his Queen - only to kill through some nefarious scheme or another. Anyway, years later, she became lonely, as all were afraid if her wrath. So, she decided to steal a baby formed of true love - one that would always love her, no matter what. But, being evil, she could not love truly and fully. So, she cast a spell, transferring a young knight's love for the princess to herself. She couldn't kill the princess, for she was the source of that love."

"So, kinda like the magical version of a computer server," asked Emma.

Snow chuckled. "Close enough. In any case, the Evil Enchantress didn't succeed-"

"- you're welcome," interjected Paige. She cringed at the group's incredulous looks. "What? I'm just saying, we're the ones who did it."

"You defeated yourself?" asked Henry.

"I told ya kid, I'm good now. I'm not her."

"Right," continued Snow. "So, the Evil Enchantress was exiled from the land, mysteriously unable to use magic any more. Eventually, thanks to her experience weaving straw into gold, she was able to make a living as a miller. She ended up having a child, with whom was never known, and had a daughter."

"Cora?" asked Henry.

Snow nodded. "And the formerly Evil Enchantress told her daughter her story, teaching her to be disdainful of royals, blaming them for their poverty, and instilling a lust for power in the girl. Eventually, Cora regained the magic in her family line and mastered it. She married the Duke, Henry, and had Regina."

"And they lived Unhappily Ever After," remarked Emma with dark sarcasm.

"That's not quite the whole story. You see... that prince and princess? They had a daughter, whom they named Eva. And she eventually married a handsome noble man named Leopold... and they had one Snow White." Snow wore a sloppy, lopsided grin filled with love and sadness. "And the Enchantress never let Cora forget, when she saw the girl, that that should have been her, if not for that prince's love for that princess. So Cora's heart was turned black, and the Princess Eva's turned white." She sighed.

"Wow. Um... sorry?" offered Paige, despite her earlier protests.

"No need. We all make mistakes... and like you said, you're not her. In a way," she looked at each of the sisters, "I suppose I have you three to thank it possible for me to exist at all."

"Uh, you're... welcome, then?" laughed Paige nervously. "But don't you dare call me Grandma or..." She left the threat unfinished and everyone else joined in the laugh. The rest of the evening, which there was little of, was spent planning how and where to wake up Ruby.

And Phoebe conjuring up a few futons. "Uh, personal gain much, missy?" reminded Paige.

"Hey, look the only things I'm gonna gain is a personal cramp in my neck. So, debt paid."

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><p><strong>AN:** You have no idea how funny it was to me that they cast Rose McGowan as young Cora. Hey, I was only one generation off! Also, I'm pretty sure Rose is the first person to play both 'Snow White' and someone in the (real) Evil Stepmother.


End file.
